


Jealousy and Rage Will Drive a Man Mad

by butchsquatch



Series: A Fire of Devotion: The Story of Sebastian Moran and Jim Moriarty [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alcohol, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bodily Fluids, Breaking and Entering, Case Fic, Choking, Dirty Talk, Drunk Texting, Drunkenness, Embarrassment, Eye Contact, First Time Blow Jobs, Hair-pulling, Internal Monologue, Intimidation, Jealousy, Lube, M/M, Masturbation, Soft Kisses, Tie Grabbing, a healthy dose of plot and porn, gun mention, too many feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:28:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 23,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23726830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/butchsquatch/pseuds/butchsquatch
Summary: Sebastian and Jim have their first client, Chris Hunt, the owner of Hunt Plastics, a business that he inherited from his late father. But all is not well as his half-brother, Harold, has found evidence of Chris' embezzlement scheme and is threatening to call the police or kill Chris unless the company is handed over to him.Through all of this, Sebastian is forced to confront his own feelings of jealousy, longing, and other feelings he'd prefer not to feel for Jim.
Relationships: Sebastian Moran/Jim Moriarty
Series: A Fire of Devotion: The Story of Sebastian Moran and Jim Moriarty [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707397
Comments: 21
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sebastian and Jim hear what Chris has to say and, as usual, Sebastian gets too cocky for his own good and Jim is there to teach him a lesson.

Sebastian exited the back seat of the black car and stretched his arms above his head in the light of the semi-risen sun. He almost had a skip in his step because he was feeling better than he had in a while, he’d gotten plenty of sleep and jerked it in the shower before he left, thinking about the last time he was with Jim. He made today sound important, so Sebastian wanted to be as prepared as he could be. “ _...you’ll be pleased to know this is your last training day before we start doing some  _ **_very_ ** _ big things _ ,” Jim had commented the day before while he sat casually, Sebastian was prepping to beat the shit out of a pale man from Norway. As he entered the always empty cafe where Jim had a habit of hosting their early morning get-togethers, he was not prepared for the other man seated across from Jim.  _ What’s the matter? Is it less special now because it isn’t just the two of you? _

Jim’s face broke from its slightly glazed-over look when he spotted Sebastian walking toward him, waving him over before gesturing to the middle-aged white man in front of him, “Moran, meet Chris Hunt.”

Chris didn’t rise to his feet but still gave Sebastian a hearty handshake, placing his hand over both of theirs, “Moran? Nice to meet you, strong grip!”

“Yeah, likewise,” He replied while trying to carefully pull himself from Mr. Hunt’s sweaty hands. Once he was free, Jim indicated for Sebastian to sit in the seat next to him.  _ Well, look at that. Do you feel honored? _

Jim started his typical ritual of making himself a cup of tea as Sebastian followed directions and sat down beside him. “Mr. Hunt, you described your problems to me briefly when we spoke over the phone, why don’t you give us more detail?”

Chris was midway through a sip of coffee when Jim handed the floor over to him, making a noise of acknowledgment before setting the mug back down and speaking, “So my dear old dad, Stuart Hunt, passed away a couple of years ago, leaving me with Hunt Plastics. We make plastic guff for different companies or some shite, I wouldn’t know I’ve never even been in the damned factory, but dad had been doing it for decades. He built the company all by himself, with a loan from his father, my grandfather, of course.” 

Hunt leaned further back in his seat as breakfast was set in front of all three of them. Sebastian noted that Chris had likely been allowed to order his own breakfast, as the color pallet of his plate was predominately brown and beige; Chris was a real meat and potatoes guy, the kind of man that would think eating vegetables somehow made him less manly. And once again, Sebastian was served a breakfast he did not make decisions on. 

“The problem isn’t the company or my dead father, it’s my bastard brother Harold. Excuse me,  _ half _ -brother, dad always wanted to be clear about that. He thinks I don't deserve to run the company and as a result, the fucker is making death threats and blackmailing me,” Chris bellowed with his mouth far too full for the company he was among. Sebastian glanced sideways at Jim, who was gripping onto the armrest of his chair; He recalled Jim asking him if he had any manners and how important it was that Sebastian learned them, so it clearly tore him up inside that he couldn’t do anything to teach Chris a lesson.  _ Maybe if you ask he might let you kill him in the end. _

Chris pulled a folder from his briefcase and handed it over to Jim, who was more than happy to snatch it out of his hand. “Those are the emails he’s sent me. Asshole is saying I have till the end of the month and I should 'watch my back'," He elaborated, looking a little worried about the idea of his half-brother coming after him, "He’s has the ‘if I’m going down I’m taking you with me’ approach. Either he gets the company or we both end up in jail.”

“Well, if he’s sending you death threats then you one of you could end up dead,” Sebastian added, now taking his own turn to make a cup of tea while glancing over at the documents that Jim was reading through.

“I’d really don’t want that to happen,” Chris protested with his brow furrowed, obviously a little put off by Sebastian’s casual tone, “ _ I  _ don’t want to die and he  _ is _ my family...We were close growing up and I used to look up to him.”

“Is he your older brother?” Sebastian asked as he finished making his cup of tea.

“Yes, which is part of the reason he’s doing all of this. Harold thinks because he’s the older brother and he’s got a damned degree--”

“A business degree,” Jim interjected much to Chris’ chagrin.

“But because he’s the half-brother he doesn’t get shit from dad, huh?” Sebastian chimed in and he noticed that Chris was getting more and more red in the face. He’d already learned plenty about this guy since the moment he shook his hand. Chris was way out of his depth in this situation, trying to make deals with criminals to get rid of someone he still had a soft spot for. His ego was too big and he didn't like that both Jim and Sebastian wouldn't treat him like he was the "big man". Sebastian had a feeling the man was using what little self-control he had to not blow up and do something impulsive. He decided to push his suspicion by speaking again, “What’s Harold got you on, huh? You said he was blackmailing you? Is that why you came to us instead of the cops?”

Chris slammed his fist on the table with some amount of restraint, causing the silverware on his side to jangle.  _ Knew it. _ What Sebastian didn’t see coming was Jim’s heel digging into the top of his foot. Jim may have been busy reading, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention. He dug his heel into Sebastian’s foot for a long while and he squirmed until Jim took his foot back and handed the folder he was browsing to Sebastian. Jim did what he did best and expertly smoothed over Sebastian’s act of impudence, “Moran, you know that we’re going to do a much better job than the police and  _ that’s  _ why he came to us. Going to the police would be ill-advised, Chris is smart enough to know that.” 

He shut up and opened the folder of emails from Chris, knowing he was going to hear about his fuck up later.  _ What makes you think you can act out like that? _ Sebastian sighed through his nose and read the email from Harold to himself while eating his breakfast:

Chris,

You and I both know you don’t deserve dad’s company and I finally have some damn proof. I’m a fucking accountant, do you really think you can get anything past me? Enclosed are receipts and invoices that prove you’re embezzling, which weren’t even that hard to find. Your accountant must be an absolute moron. You give me the company or I’m telling the authorities. If you don't do it fast enough then I’m gonna fucking kill you. I’ll go down with you, I don’t give a fuck. Dad is dead and you still couldn’t even help me out, you know he hated me. I have a business degree and you’re an idiot asshole that got by with daddy's help. You couldn’t even hire me as an accountant. You have until the end of the month, so watch your back.

Fuck you,

Harold

Sebastian chuckled as he read the email. Chris was truly fucked, all of those attached documents were both really incriminating and obvious; Chris was doing such a bad job at embezzling that even Sebastian, that didn’t know shit about business, could tell something was off in the numbers. Harold was all over the place in his email, so even if Chris didn't end up in jail, it was likely his brother was going to kill him; There was enough rage in his correspondence that Sebastian wouldn’t put it past him. Without Jim’s intervention, Chris was truly backed into a corner.

“Mr. Hunt, we will do everything we can to remove Harold from the situation but if you’d like him to remain  _ alive _ that’s going to cost extra. We discussed 3 million and it sounded like you could  _ barely _ afford that. I’m expecting another 2 million. If you can’t manage that, Moran here would be more than happy to take care of him by dinner tomorrow. He's an excellent shot.” Sebastian grinned to himself as he closed the folder. He was impressed that Jim also thought to exploit Chris’ weakness for Harold.  _ Nice job, you’re just as fucked up as he is. _

Mr. Hunt was clearly uncomfortable with the prospect of spending more money on this plot to deal with Harold but they already knew he had a soft spot for him and he wasn’t in a place to negotiate. He mumbled after a moment of consideration, "I can get you the other 2 million by tomorrow night."

"That's what I like to hear. I'll be in touch about getting that from you. But I would like that 3 million now, please." Jim informed as he gestured to the briefcase Chris had pulled the folder of emails from earlier.

"Right, of course," Chris uttered before grabbing the briefcase and handing it over to Jim, who opened it to check that the money was actually inside. Sebastian glanced over and realized he hadn't seen that much money in one place before; He wondered what all that cash would end up funding.

"Wonderful, pleasure doing business with you Mr. Hunt," Jim stood to his feet and extended his hand to Chris, which was a clue to Sebastian to eat his breakfast  _ faster _ . The two shook hands and Chris started to stand to his feet, but Jim waved his free hand and suggested, "Please, stay and eat your breakfast. Moran and I have errands to run." 

Much to Sebastian’s surprise, he managed to finish his breakfast and  _ not _ have food in his mouth when he shook Chris' hand and mirrored Jim’s sentiment, "Pleasure to work with you, Mr. Hunt." Jim was already walking away from the table so Sebastian quickened his pace to catch up with him, speaking to Jim when they were outside, “That went well.”

Jim didn't respond, so Sebastian just opened the back door of the car and let him go inside, sliding in after Jim and shutting the door. Clearly, Sebastian hadn’t learned yet that Jim’s justice was _always_ swift, so Jim taught him that lesson by grabbing onto Sebastian tie and pulling him down into a hunch position. “Sebastian,” He started, twisting his hand around the tie to give Sebastian a very short leash, “You and I both know that man is a twat and most of our clients will be but that **doesn’t** mean you get to prove you’re more clever during a consultation. Do you understand?” A quick nod clearly wasn’t good enough for Jim as he gripped onto Sebastian’s tie tighter, near enough to restrict Sebastian’s breathing, “Speak.” 

A chill ran through Sebastian as he stared up at Jim and then spoke, “Yes, Sir... Won’t happen again.”

He released his hold on Sebastian’s tie and Sebastian sat up straight and adjusted his tie.  _ Bastard always finds the sexiest ways to scold you. _ It was obvious that Jim would do that, the more Sebastian thought about it; Jim was now fully aware of Sebastian’s kink for being roughed up and pushed to the edge. Since it was already in his contract, what better way to facilitate sex than riling Sebastian up during the day? The last time the two of them had sex, Sebastian was more keyed up then he’d ever been and it had been the  _ best _ sex of his life. He shifted in his seat next to Jim, who handed him another folder of papers.

“Here’s everything about Harold that was easily available: his address, his phone number, where he works, etc. I need you to follow him around and report to me anything new you find. And if Chris doesn’t make good on his other 2 million by tomorrow night, you can kill him. Harold, not Chris. As much as we both might want Chris dead, he  _ is _ paying me.” Jim rattled off as Sebastian looked through the intel on Harold.

“So what are we doing about Harold if I’m not killing him?”

“Depends on what you find on him. See how much he likes his wife and his daughter and find out how they feel about him. Kidnapping is always an option. Find something to blackmail  _ him _ . That’s the wonderful thing about crime, Sebastian, you get to use your imagination,” Jim remarked with a look on his face like a kid in a candy store. Sebastian chuckled when Jim was done speaking, closing the folder of papers. There was something about Jim’s enthusiasm that Sebastian found close to endearing.  _ Cut that shit out, Sebastian. You're not allowed to get feelings for this snake. _ The laugh didn’t go unnoticed as Jim questioned Sebastian, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing... I just haven't seen you this excited,” He confessed while setting his new folder on top of the other one Chris had given them.

“Few things thrill me as much as a plan coming together perfectly.”

“Hmm...Good to know. What are these errands we’re running?”

“ _ We’re _ running? No,  _ I’m _ going back to my flat and  _ you’re _ working and running errands,” Jim corrected Sebastian and opened the door once the car slowed to a stop in front of what Sebastian assumed was the building that housed Jim. It was a lot more modest than Sebastian was thinking, but then again why would he want to stand out? It was possible there were other criminals that would love to take him out and the police probably didn’t like him much either. Jim got out of the car and leaned in to speak to Sebastian, “Find out what you can about Harold. Come back here at 6 with takeout and my dry cleaning. Understand?”

“Yes, Sir. Since when am I--” But Jim cut him off by shutting the door.  _ You’re his personal assistant now, lucky you.  _ Sebastian let out a sigh and rubbed his face, noting that the car wasn’t moving. Where was he gonna go? He picked up the file on Harold once again and opened it, checking out what little of a schedule he had on him. It was still early, so Harold would be at work. Sebastian reached over and knocked on the glass partition and said, “Hey Dexter, 53 Edith road...Uh please.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian is tasked with finding more information about Harold Hunt. Then, his expectations about Jim and what the evening will bring change drastically.

When Sebastian looked up, he didn’t see Dexter, but some brown-haired kid he’d never seen before. He was clearly younger than Sebastian, early 20s he suspected; It made him wonder  _ how _ young Jim was willing to employ. “I’m not Dexter, mate. But I can still get you there. You want to be right there or a couple blocks away?” 

He mumbled “yeah no shit” before responding to the kid’s question, “A couple of blocks would be better, thanks.” Sebastian furrowed his brow as his driver rolled up the window between them. He wondered where Dexter could be, but in the end, it made sense. Dexter  _ was _ next in command after himself, so he assumed Jim didn’t think it wise to have all of his high ranking officials in one car. He pulled his phone from his pocket and decided to shoot Dexter a text; He was more disappointed than he realized to find him not there.

too good to drive for me now, huh? I’ve got a big boy job and everything

He pocketed his phone again without waiting for a reply and sighed, thinking instead about his plan of action. This was a completely different battlefield than Sebastian was used to; London required a different strategy than the middle of the desert did. At least London had more cover, Sebastian would be able to blend in effectively. But it was likely he would have to sit and wait for a long time during this job, and that was essentially all he was doing in Afghanistan; Snipers don’t move much.

His driver slowed to a stop a couple of blocks away from the address Sebastian gave him. He looked out the window to see the streets weren’t swimming with people, but there seemed to be enough people milling about the business plaza, so he had some amount of cover. “Hang out here, I’ll be back. Tell me if you see anything I don’t, got it?” Sebastian remarked to the closed partition, only receiving a double knock on the glass in response. He rolled his eyes and then exited the car, bringing his folders along to read up on Harold in an effort to pass the time.

Sebastian walked the two blocks over to the plaza of people and found a place to sit down. He felt naked, trying to blend in with a bunch of suits; At least he  _ was _ wearing a suit. The pressure of this new job was starting to weigh on him, but Sebastian considered himself a champion bullshiter. Outwardly he could give a cool and confident attitude while on the inside he was screaming. Fake it till you make it, he always said.  _ Give yourself some credit, you got this far. _ A positive thought about himself. Sebastian wasn’t used to that.

That plaza became his office for hours, the sound of the incredibly cheap and basic fountain bubbling through the area. Sebastian knew what Harold looked like but he didn’t see him come in or out, even past noon, when scores of people left the office to find lunch. He read through all the papers he had, twice, putting all of them into one folder for his convenience. Sebastian spent some time thinking about texting Jim, almost texting him, and changing his mind. 

Eventually, around 1 pm, he got tired of sitting around and went into the office building, spotting the receptionist, a pretty brown-haired woman that looked to be around the same age as him. He tried his best to straighten himself up and put on a charming smile, something that didn’t betray the fact he was actually a scoundrel. Sebastian casually leaned against the desk and asked, “Excuse me, do you know if Harold is in today?”

The woman looked up from what she was doing on the monitor in front of her and smiled at Sebastian - he noticed that she checked him out briefly - before replying, “Sorry, I’m not supposed to tell people if someone is working or not. It’s an HR thing.”

Sebastian did his best-disappointed frown and slapped the desk gently, “Damn, I was hoping to catch him.” This was going to be more difficult than he realized, so Sebastian tried making his connection to Harold seem deeper; A believable backstory. “He was my mentor when I was in college. Taught me a lot about business. You know, I haven’t seen little Bonnie since she was born.” His plan seemed to work because the receptionist relaxed a little, getting a softhearted look on her face.  _ Probably wants kids _ .

“She’s all grown up now! 7 years old, I think…” She replied excitedly. She looked around and then back up at Sebastian, “You seem to actually know him, so I guess there’s no harm in telling you. He called out for the week, I don’t think he’s feeling well. Do you need his address?”

He shook his head and laughed, “No but thank you. He’s been sending me letters so I know the address. I didn’t catch your name.”

“It’s Julia,” She chirped, smiling up at Sebastian, “I didn’t get yours.”

“Clifford,” Sebastian lied, being smart enough to not use his actual name, extending his hand out to shake Julia’s, “Thanks for your help, Julia.”

“No problem! You’ll have to visit again when Harold is here, so he can show you around” Julia chimed, and Sebastian was surprised by how his charm was working on her.  _ The ladies can’t get enough of you, Basher.  _ If he wasn’t on a job he might try to get her number. Just cause he was getting dick from his boss didn’t mean he wasn’t over pussy. He  _ was  _ bisexual so he might as well live that way. Who knows, maybe he’d find another guy that was rough with him. Sex with Jim was in his contract, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have sex with other people, right?

“I’ll have to do that,” Sebastian crooned, squeezing her hand before letting go because he couldn’t help but flirt just a little. 

It was too convenient for Harold to call off from work the same week he sent that email to Chris.  _ Sick, sure, right.  _ He was planning something, Sebastian was sure of it. He walked the 2 blocks back to the car, which was luckily still there. His driver could see him coming and started the car up before Sebastian got into the back seat. 

“Turns out he called out from work for the next week, says he’s sick,” Sebastian revealed and the window separating the front and back rolled down while he was speaking.

“Is this the same bastard that just blackmailed his brother? That’s a load of shite.”

“That’s what I thought. Let’s go check out his house.”

* * *

They pulled up half a block away and on the other side of the street from Harold’s house. His driver, who Sebastian found out was named Avery, did impressive work. He may have been a kid, in Sebastian’s eyes, but he wasn’t an amateur; He suspected Avery had been driving for as long as he could legally and likely even before that. If he was gonna be around for a while, Sebastian didn’t mind; Jim seemed to be decent at hiring professionals. Sebastian was sure Avery would be useful in a chase, but for now, he was satisfactory at parking in an inconspicuous location, despite the neighborhood they were in.

“Are you gonna beat the shit out of him?”  
“Nah, I wish. I don’t have any information yet. We just have to sit and wait for now,” Sebastian mumbled, pretending he didn’t hear Avery say “we’ve been doing that all fucken day” as he scanned the area. There was one car outside. He couldn’t see any movement inside because most of the blinds were closed, save for the one in the living room. _Maybe he_ ** _is_** _sick_. It was an hour into sitting there watching nothing when Sebastian saw Harold, fully dressed, look out his window and then pace back and forth, confirming his suspicion that he wasn’t actually sick. Harold did the same thing every and over while Sebastian watched him, doing it once every hour. _Is this guy losing it or something?_ Despite the lack of activity, Sebastian made detailed notes.

It was nearing 5 pm and Sebastian barely had anything to report and he still had to pick up Jim’s dry cleaning and dinner for the two of them.  _ He’s not gonna like it if you’re late though. _ Luck was on Sebastian’s side because another car pulled up in front of Harold’s house and out walked his wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Bonnie. They hadn’t even got inside and Harold had opened the door; It was at the hour mark where he was already pacing through the living room. They were just beginning to argue when Harold closed the door. Sebastian thought quickly and got out of the car, making it look like he was going on a casual walk. Sebastian pulled out his phone and inconspicuously scrolled through nothing while he walked and eavesdropped on the shouting match between dear Harold and Cynthia.

“Harold, no! I’m--”

“Cynthia-- important! You don’t--”

“No -- leaving-- ….Prison!”

Sebastian was a house away when he heard the front door of Harold’s house open. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Cynthia ushering her daughter into the back seat of the car they’d just exited, before getting into the driver’s side and shutting the door, leaving Harold shouting her name from the front door. Cynthia drove away with her daughter in the back seat, leaving her husband to angrily slam the front door. Sebastian jogged back across the street and got into the back seat of the car, satisfied to actually have information to give Jim. “Alright let’s get the fuck out of here, I have shit to do.”

* * *

With Jim's dry-cleaning in one hand and Indian takeout in the other, Sebastian exited the car with 10 minutes to spare, giving Avery a quick "see you tomorrow”. He walked up to the door that Jim had instructed him to go through in an earlier text, up the stairs, and to the end of the hall where Jim's flat was, which also appeared to be the  _ only _ living space in the building. He was a little nervous to be there for the first time because he had no idea what to expect; Was this going to be work or was Sebastian getting laid again? Sebastian knocked on the door the best he could with no open hands.

"It's open, Basher!" Jim called and Sebastian grumbled, setting their food down to free up his hands. He picked the bag back up before entering the flat, surprised with how small the place was.  _ It is just Jim, he doesn't need much _ . Jim was seated on his couch, which hugged the corner of the living room in an L shape. There was a coffee table in front of the couch, which was modern and probably expensive; It also had a bottle of wine with two glasses on it. He was wearing pajamas; They were clearly nice but they  _ were _ pajamas. Everything was so shockingly normal. "You can put the food on the coffee table and then grab plates. They’re in the second cabinet on the left."

"Sure. Dry cleaning?"

Jim stood to his feet and grabbed the dry cleaning from Sebastian's hand, walking down the hallway and into what Sebastian assumed was Jim's bedroom.  _ You think he'll have sex in his room or does he not wanna dirty it?  _ Sebastian stopped gawking down the hall and grabbed plates like he was told. Since Jim neglected to tell him where the silverware was, he just looked through drawers until he found them, noting the lack of most cooking utensils. Jim’s space was a lot messier than Sebastian was expecting; He chalked it up to Jim not having someone to do it for him. Jim sat down on the couch again and as Sebastian set down the eating utensils, he realized that  _ he _ was the one that was going to do everything for him.

"So, what did you learn, Sebastian?" Jim asked as he pulled the styrofoam containers out of the take out bag, opening all of them to see what Sebastian got.

"Well, I swung by Harold’s office and he wasn’t anywhere to be found. I put on the charm with the receptionist to find out he called out from work, all week. So I went by his house and he’s just pacing back and forth. His wife came home, had a nasty argument, and then she left with the kid,” Sebastian explained as shoveled food onto his plate. He realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast, like usual. “She knows something about what he’s planning on doing to Chris, but I couldn’t hear any of it.”

“Oooh, good boy, Sebastian,” Jim purred and picked up the bottle of wine, popping the cork out and pouring a glass for both of them.  _ He always does this. _ Sebastian was reminded of the first night they had sex, how they’d eaten takeout and got drunk together in his living room. That night was so hard for him, he was wildly unprepared to be having sex with Jim or any man at the time. Now he was unphased by sex with Jim; now he  _ wanted _ it. The return of takeout and alcohol felt like a promise from Jim. He  _ was _ already calling him a good boy.  _ Maybe you are gonna get laid. _

“I know I took away your friend Dexter, but how do you like your new driver? Is he behaving himself?” Jim asked while he sat back on the couch, holding onto the glass of wine and ignoring the food he’d put on his plate.

“Avery? He’s good, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do. He kinda reminds me of me when I was 16,” Sebastian admitted as he ate a few bites of food quickly before having a sip of the wine Jim poured for him; It had been a long day so he welcomed the drink. “Ya know...I figured you sat around in a suit even at home.”

“Why on earth would I do that, Moran?”

Sebastian shrugged and sat back on the couch with Jim, with his knees pivoted toward him, “You were strict on the suit thing, I assumed you were weird enough to do it at home too.”

Jim gave Sebastian an annoyed look and a small kick in the leg, “I wait an hour and if I don’t have to go out,  _ then _ I change out of my suit. I’d prefer to be busy and not loafing around in pajamas, but I wear other clothes,  _ Sebastian _ .” He gave Sebastian another kick in the leg, which was entirely playful, and took a sip of his wine.

He smirked before he drank as well, taking way too much time to just watch Jim before he spoke again, “I think Harold might be losing it. He’s just pacing, yelling a lot, all that.”

“He’s obviously jealous of his brother. Perhaps he has rage issues. Did it seem like you could leverage his family to solve all this?”

“Not really? He seems pretty focused on whatever his plan is, but I’ll keep an eye on it. I might to have to get into his house I think if I want to really figure out what he’s doing.”

“Aww, Sebastian. You’re an even better hire than I was expecting. Already willing to break and enter. Although, we both know this isn’t the first time you did it,” Jim divulged as he leaned over the coffee table to have two bites of food and then settle back on the couch. 

“You know about that?” Sebastian asked, “I didn’t even get caught, how’d you know about that?”

Jim simply took a sip of his wine and said nothing. He never really explained to Sebastian how he knew so much of his life, intimate details that only a few people in his life would know. If he knew about the B&E he did, Jim would have had to hunt down a friend Sebastian had when he was 17 and wasn’t close with any longer.  _ It looks like he’s even more obsessed with you than you are with him.  _ Sebastian laughed and waved Jim away, “Fine, keep your secrets.”

* * *

Once they’d finished eating and had a couple of glasses of wine in them, Sebastian learned the full extent of how affectionate Jim got when he drank. Jim ended up with his legs draped over Sebastian’s while he lied down on his back on the couch. Since he was just as drunk as Jim was, Sebastian felt at ease while he rubbed his calf. They sat like that in silence while the minutes clicked by, the two too content to say anything. It was intimate in a way that Sebastian didn’t realize at the time, as he was zoned out enjoying the feeling of the fabric of Jim’s pajamas. Sebastian didn’t notice that Jim was trying to talk to him and it took Jim bringing his leg down on to Sebastian’s thigh for him to notice, breaking Sebastian out of his trance.

“Pay attention when I’m talking to you. Clean up the plates and then get out, I have plans,” Jim dictated, as he pushed himself up to his elbows and swung his legs off of Sebastian’s.  _ Plans?  _

“Right... yes, sir,” Sebastian replied, unhappy to be ripped away from the bliss he was feeling at that moment.  _ Cool it, Sebastian.  _ He stood to his feet and grabbed the dishes, taking them to the kitchen. He stared at the wall with his brow furrowed while he washed the plates and silverware.  _ Does he have plans? _ Sebastian was fully expecting this to be his evening: dinner, drinks, and sex. That’s how it worked before, how come it wasn’t like that now? It was only 7:45 and he was getting kicked out.  _ What could he be doing this late? _ Sebastian dried the dishes and put them away before putting the leftovers in the fridge for Jim.

“Yes, thank you, good boy, get out,” Jim demanded as he literally started to push Sebastian out of his flat, shutting the door once Sebastian was in the hallway.  _ …What the fuck? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello, thank you for reading! This is a long chapter for me, but it worked best to put all this stuff in one chapter.  
> If any of y'all are interested, I was thinking of linking the Spotify playlists I've made for both this story and the one I wrote previously on the series page. Lemme know if you'd like that!  
> Lemme know you liked the chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian spirals and does what he can to get Jim's attention

Sebastian stood dumbfounded in the hallway for far too long before turning around and walking away from Jim’s flat. It didn’t make any sense, he got all the signs that they were going to have sex, but Jim cut it short.  _ What gives, what did you do? _ Was this further punishment for fucking up breakfast with Chris Hunt? Jim never did anything by accident, so why did he kick him out? Sebastian struggled to find Jim’s motive for his actions, but he was starting to realize that “because I felt like it” was a valid reason for Jim; He just wanted to see what would happen most of the time. 

Already buzzed, Sebastian stumbled out of the building and just started walking till he found a pub. He always came back to alcohol, when he needed something to distract himself from whatever feeling it was he wanted to bury way down inside of him. Sebastian didn’t want to think about how nice it was to rub Jim’s leg through his pajamas and he didn’t want to think about his disappointment from not being able to absolutely ruin him on the couch. He sat down at the dim bar and ordered himself a whiskey, downing it all too quickly and then ordering another. 

_ He’s bored of you already. _ Probably.  _ He’s punishing you by not letting you fuck him and you deserve it.  _ Yeah, that’s true. Sebastian clenched his hair in his fist as he sat in a hunched position at the bar. The alcohol running through his system was only making him face all the thoughts he was trying to quiet. He wanted to fuck Jim so badly, to have his fingers tangled in his hair and to claw at his skin. Sebastian drunkenly dreamed about Jim screaming out an orgasm while he drank whiskey after whiskey, wondering what he’d done wrong.

His phone buzzing in his pocket gave him a much-needed distraction. He was surprised to see a whole hour had passed and he was down 4 drinks. It was Dexter, finally texting him back from earlier in the day. Sebastian passed on ordering another drink in favor of texting him back.

Sorry I didn't text you sooner, I'm in Italy. How's the job?

fucking ridiculous 👎

why are yoiu in Italy?

you, I'm druck

I have my own job to do.

Oh boy what happened?

jiim doesn’t wanna have sex

i fucked up and he’s punishing me

That's it?

what do you mean that's it? fuck you maate

Where are you?

a bar, whrr else would I be?

A bar? He's letting you go to bars now?

well they took me money and gave me whiskey so yes

why didn't he let me stay and fuck him? ☹️

it was so nice

Sebastian go home, you're a mess when you're unsupervised.

How are you supposed to fuck Jim if your dick doesn't work because you're drinking too much again?

Sebastian stared at the text for a long moment before letting out a frustrated groan and closed his bar tab. Dexter was right, he needed to go home. Go wallow in the comfort and safety of his own home. His drunk brain hoped that maybe if he jerked off and did a good job, Jim would see him on the cameras and take pity on him.  _ Yeah, great idea. Pathetic. _ He waved for a cab and clung to a street sign to keep from stumbling, throwing open the back door of the cab that pulled up beside him. He mumbled his address to the driver and then leaned back on the back seat of the cab.

He truly did feel pathetic. Sebastian was  _ already _ wrapped around Jim’s finger, in every way he had the upper hand. There was no escape, just one night of rejection left him all but crying and back to his old ways. And he knew Jim loved the fact Sebastian would sink  _ this  _ low but he had a feeling he was still going to be punished for it. He wanted it, anything to be close or get attention. Sebastian rubbed his forehead as he sat in the cab, letting out a small disheartened noise. He felt too many emotions when it came to Jim and he just wished he could slow it down, at the very least. 

The cab came to a stop and Sebastian threw an indeterminate amount of cash at the driver before exiting the vehicle. He stumbled his way up to his flat and inside, dropping his keys a couple of times before he got the door open. “Look, Jim,” Sebastian started as he tossed the folder he’d been carrying with him all day on the bench next to his door, “I know you watch me, you’ve got a live feed on your laptop or some shit. You probably already know I’m drunk cause there are cameras everywhere!” Sebastian sat down on the floor and yanked his shoes off, tossing them over into his bedroom. There was no way of knowing if Jim was listening and he didn’t really care. He liked venting to Jim when he had no way of responding, like getting up close to a tranquilized animal. “So yeah, I fucked up. And you’re gonna punish me because  _ you’re _ manipulating me. Oooh yeah, I’m not as dumb as you think I am, Jim!”

Sebastian shrugged his way out of his jacket and tossed it on his couch as he went to the kitchen, starting up a pot of coffee while he continued to speak to the absent Jim, “The only fucking problem is I _ like _ it, Jim. But you already knew that...You know everything.” Sebastian watched the water pour into his coffee maker and he shook his head, “I was fully prepared to fuck you on the couch, sir, I hope you fucking know that.” He let out a long sigh as he gripped onto his hair gently. This was all pointless and he might have been giving more information than he should have, but he didn’t care, he was drunk. 

“Would it make you happy if I jerked off, huh? You want that, Jim?” He asked as Sebastian started to undo his belt, “I could do it right over there, where you rode my cock. Would that make you happy?” Sebastian moved over to the edge of the counter that Jim had pushed him against, now unbuttoning his pants and removing his cock from his underwear, which was more erect than he was expecting; All this frustration about the way Jim manipulated him was only turning him on the whole time.  _ Freak. _ He pulled out the lube he now permanently kept in his pocket and put a large drop in his hand before putting it back in his pocket.

He let out a moan as he slowly stroked his cock, resting one elbow on the counter with his head leaned back. “I just want to cum in you again, Jim,” He groaned as he thought about how good it felt to fuck Jim, how rough Jim let him get and how deep he’d let him go. His legs shook and his breathing was loud, his voice shaky, “I-I wanna hear you scream, I don’t care what I have to do to hear it.”

Sebastian didn’t care how low he was going just to get attention, maybe attention, from Jim. He stroked his cock faster as he thought about Jim’s various moments of manhandling him; When he grabbed his jaw the day before and this morning when he grabbed his tie and  _ made _ him remember his place. He gripped onto the edge of the counter as he shouted out Jim’s name as he came on his hand, despite how drunk he was. Sebastian started to laugh, his hand flat to make sure his cum didn’t drip onto the floor, the realization of all the shit he said making him a little loopy. He felt pitiful and liked it, he just wished that Jim would have been here. Sebastian washed the cum off his hand in the sink and then put his dick away.

The pot of coffee he had started was gurgling to signal it was basically done brewing, so Sebastian grabbed himself a mug and filled it with coffee, sugar, and milk. “I hope you liked that, Jim… You’re probably not even watching this and I’m just talking to myself.” He was okay with that, there was something about just the  _ idea _ of being watched by Jim that added to his arousal; That, and he was happy to have the company of Jim, even if it was imagined. Sebastian took his cup of coffee with him as he sat down on his couch, sitting in silence before speaking out loud once more, “I’m not gonna talk about shit that I’m not ready to talk about, in case you  _ are  _ listening. You don’t get to know  _ everything. _ ” He sipped his coffee, which he didn’t realize how much he needed until that moment; It was bringing him a little bit of clarity that the wine and whiskey took from him, just in time to avoid saying something embarrassing. “I hope whatever you had planned went well… Probably watching some other employee stab a man to death. Or do you only do that with me? ...Well, I haven’t killed anyone for you yet.”  _ Yet. _ He would happily stab a man to death for Jim. Especially if he was watching him do it.

Sebastian silently drank his cup of coffee while he stared down at his phone on the coffee table. He kept thinking about texting Jim and then talking himself out of it.  _ He’s busy, I should leave him alone.  _ There was still doubt that Jim even  _ was _ busy and he merely kicked out Jim for his own amusement. He certainly wasn’t going to care to hear from Sebastian, busy or not. He set the mug down on the table and picked up his phone. While he stared at the messages between himself and Jim, Sebastian tried to think of an excuse to text him. If it wasn’t superfluous text, then maybe he’d get a response.

Are we having breakfast tomorrow?

He turned the screen off quickly and set his phone face up on the table.  _ Why did you do that? _ Sebastian was sure that Jim wasn’t going to respond, he was busy. There were obviously more important things he could be doing than texting back and forth with Sebastian. And Jim would see right through him, he would know that this was just a cry for his attention. All of Sebastian’s focus was on his phone, with his elbows resting on his knees. Much to his surprise, after a couple of minutes later, his phone lit up.  _ Holy shit he actually texted back? _

No, but we can have dinner after you get my money from Chris

He’s actually getting the money?

He is, I'll give you the details tomorrow

Excellent performance earlier

Good night

Thanks

Good night Jim

_ He’s always watching. _ Sebastian stared down at the texts as he stood to his feet and walked to his bedroom. He quickly changed out of his clothes and into pajamas, still mystified by the text even while he crawled under the covers, like a teen girl with a crush. What was he doing? Sebastian was so desperate for anything from Jim that he was reduced to this, staring at a good night text like it meant  _ anything _ . Finally, he turned the screen off and set his phone face down on his nightstand, letting out a crestfallen groan.  _ You like getting your heartbroken, don’t you?  _ Sebastian closed his eyes and pulled his blankets close to his body, his head spinning from leftover alcohol in his system, the caffeine, and the memory of the feeling of Jim’s pajamas against his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyooo thanks for reading! it looks like i'm just gonna end up updating this bad boy every Sunday or Monday, it just kinda works out that way. I've written up to chapter 5 and I'm partway through writing 6, so trust me when I say you'll be getting updates. I like writing these two way too much to stop.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avery and Sebastian follow Harold around once again. What is he up to?

Sebastian was fortunate enough to wake the next day without a headache. When his alarm went off, he fumbled with his phone and stopped the jaunty tune that was his phone’s default before tossing it on the bed next to him. No headache, but he felt groggy. Yesterday when he woke up, he was prepared and happy to get the day going; Now Sebastian wished he could go back to sleep. He really felt like he’d embarrassed himself the night before, his absolutely sad attempt at getting attention. As Sebastian stared up at the ceiling with unfocused eyes, he thought about his life filled with desperate grabs at affection and praise from the people around him: His father, his girlfriends, commanding officers, and now Jim. He’d made so many drunken phone calls in his life and pathetic attempts at showing off, and none of it seemed to do anything. _Why do you keep doing this? When are you gonna learn?_

With a groan, he got out of bed and shuffled into the kitchen to make himself a breakfast of eggs, toast, sausage, and an iced coffee from the leftovers of the coffee he’d made last night. Sebastian yawned loudly while he watched the sausage roll around in the pan as he shook it, close to burning them while he thought about the shit he had planned today. _Buy a notebook or something, dumbass._ He threw all the elements of his breakfast on a plate and called it good enough as he slid the plate onto his kitchen island, where he ate standing up. Follow Harold, get Jim’s money, dinner, fuck Jim. He held out hope for when they would have sex again.

With his belly full and his mind fresher from the coffee, Sebastian quickly got himself showered and dressed. He grabbed a few things he figured he might need: The folders of intel on Harold, a couple of pens, and a handgun, which he purchased on one of his days out with Dexter. Sebastian was aware that he couldn’t kill Harold, at this point, since Chris was giving them the other two million, but that didn’t mean he _couldn’t_ shoot him. He slipped the gun into the holster that was beautifully hidden under his suit jacket. A quick glance in the mirror to wipe anything off his face and make sure his tie was straight and Sebastian was out the door.

“Mornin’, Sir,” Avery mumbled as Sebastian got into the back seat, “Where we going?”

Sebastian laughed to himself as he tossed the folder next to him and shut the door. It was a surprise to be called sir, nobody had spoken to him with that much respect before. _Don’t forget, you_ **_are_ ** _the second in command._ He smirked and crossed one leg over the other, suddenly feeling confident, before he spoke, “Harold’s house first, I have to figure out what he’s doing.”

“You got it, boss,” Avery acknowledged as he drove away from Sebastian’s flat.

The text from the night before came into Sebastian’s mind and he tried to push them away in an effort to _focus_ . He had a job to do and wanted to do it well, so he had to stop thinking about Jim. At least, in the way that his mind insisted on thinking about him: Naked, screaming, and with his hand on Jim’s soft hair. Sebastian grumbled and ran his fingers through his own hair like he was trying to push away all thoughts that weren’t about work. _Good, focus on what matters._

The case is what mattered, what Harold was up to. What _was_ he up to? It was clear from the conversation between Harold and his wife, though Sebastian didn’t hear much of it, that Harold had something serious planned that he’d told Cynthia about, but she clearly didn’t like the idea. It was a rash decision, one that would end with Harold in prison. The emails to Chris already outlined Harold’s urge to have his half-brother dead, but _how_ he was going to make that happen was another story. Sebastian didn’t have enough information at this point to figure out what he could be doing.

Avery pulled up to Harold’s house, making sure he didn’t park in the same spot he had yesterday. Sebastian made a note to pick up a pair of binoculars when he had the chance to make himself more effective at the job. Harold still had the blinds open from the day before, so Sebastian assumed that paranoia hadn’t gotten the better of him at this point. Good for Sebastian, it made it easier to watch him. It wasn’t until a little past 9 am that Harold passed by the open window and into what Sebastian knew was his kitchen from studying the blueprints they had of his home. “Not working so you’re sleeping in, huh Harold?” Sebastian chided out loud.

It was more than 2 hours until anything else of significance happened in Harold’s house, Sebastian sitting silently and staring the whole time. It was 11:30 and Harold shut the curtains in the living room, causing Sebastian to sit up straight and speak, “Oh, he closed the curtains.” After that, Harold opened up the front door and exited his home, locking it up behind him and then going to his car with a duffle bag hanging over one shoulder.

“Avery,” Sebastian pointed out, but Avery waved him away.

“I see him, boss, do you want me to follow him?”

“Yeah, do your thing. Make sure he doesn’t know we’re following him,” He suggested while settling back in his seat. _Duffle bag could be a lot of things, he might just be going to the gym._ Harold was fully dressed and cleaned up, this wasn’t a gym run. Sebastian knew it was possible that Harold was just going back to work, but why would he need the duffle bag? He was only an accountant.

They followed after Harold at far enough of a range that the man _shouldn’t_ have been able to notice. He took them further from the residential areas and into a more industrial area. There were fewer cars on the street and that made Sebastian nervous, their vehicle didn’t blend in quite as well. Harold eventually turned into the back entrance of an industrial building and Avery kept going, turning around to the other side of the street so Sebastian could get a view of what was happening, but they were far enough away. From his position, he couldn’t see _much_ but he could see Harold and that was good enough. He exited his car with the duffle bag’s long strap balled up in his hand and moved to the front of his car, where he started to speak with someone that Sebastian couldn’t see. He could tell that Harold seemed unsure, hesitant. _Moment of clarity, maybe. Or maybe he’s just out of his depth like his brother._ Sebastian watched Harold fumble opening the duffle bag and then it was pulled from his hands. He waited, and then looked relieved as he was handed a different duffle bag, which he cradled with more care than he did the money as he got back into his car and drove away.

“Go ahead and follow him,” Sebastian ordered as he wrote down a few notes on the first paper on top of the stack in the folder he brought. 

Avery followed him for several minutes while Sebastian organized his notes until he made a left when Harold made a right. Before Sebastian had a chance to get upset, he spoke, “Sorry boss he just drove around the block, he’s gotta know he’s being followed.”

“Or paranoid that he has at the very least. Yeah okay, good call,” Sebastian relented and let out a sigh before asking, “Are you hungry? Let’s get lunch.”

* * *

They decided on a pub that Sebastian liked and Avery had heard enough good about from his friends to concede. Sebastian was _fairly_ certain Avery was old enough to drink, but even if he wasn’t, he’d figure it out; If he worked for Jim, then Sebastian didn’t put it past him to have a fake ID. “We get one drink, alright? We’re still on the clock,” Sebastian affirmed as he picked up the menu. _Wow, how professional of you, a new look._

“Yeah I got it,” Avery dismissed while his attention was on the host that seated them and was walking away.

“Careful,” Sebastian said with a laugh, “You’re gonna get whiplash.”

Avery gave him a look of “yeah I get it old man” before pulling his phone out and setting it on the table. Sebastian could tell he wasn’t a huge fan of suits from the way that he squirmed around, constantly pulling down on his jacket or fiddling with his tie. He was in his earlier 20s, so he thought it likely that Avery had only had to wear one to some boring event his parents dragged him to.

They ordered their food, Avery once again checking out the host. Sebastian knew he was going to be around this kid for a while, so he made an attempt at getting to know him, “How old are you?”

“22.”

 _Oh good, he’s 10 years younger than you._ “How’d you get hired?” Sebastian asked. He was starting to see more and more of himself in Avery. Sebastian didn’t want to take him under his wing, necessarily, but maybe the kid could benefit from having someone knowledgeable around.

Avery picked up his phone and spun it around in his hand as he spoke, “I was driving getaway for a job that went to shite, like really badly, like I was the only one that made it out bad. Guess Moriarty found out about it and gave me a job. He knew about all my speeding tickets and shit too. ‘S good because I can give a fuck load of money to my mum.”

“Does your mum need it or something?”

He looked a little uncomfortable with the question, or at the very least sheepish about it. “She’s single and taking care of my younger brother and sister, so yeah, she needs it.”

 _Well, that’s unexpected._ Sebastian nodded, “That’s a noble reason to get into crime, Avery.”

Avery laughed and Sebastian was about to say something else, but he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Sebastian pulled it out and checked it, noting it was a text from Jim. “Speak of the devil. Excuse me,” Sebastian mumbled before texting him back.

Good afternoon tiger ❤️

Afternoon, what can I do for you?

Pick up my money from Chris and then make me dinner

You want me to make dinner?

Yes I’m tired of take-out

I thought you would jump at the chance since you’re trying to impress me

You’re lucky I can cook then

I’m lucky you can do a lot of things Sebby

Sebastian didn’t realize he had a dumbass grin on his face until Avery spoke up, “Careful. Didn’t anybody tell you about your face sticking that way, old man? You got a hot date with the boss or something?”  
“Something like that,” Sebastian replied and pocketed his phone.

* * *

Avery and Sebastian finished off their lunch and went on a series of errands, Jim sending Sebastian surprisingly flirty texts the whole time; He assumed Jim had just been home drinking wine all day or something, why else would he hire all these people? They were typical errands: Sporting goods store, office supplies, pick up 2 million dollars in a briefcase, and then groceries. The usual. Avery offered to help Sebastian out with all the shit he had, but declined; Carrying all that upstairs on his own was just another way to show off.

He knocked on the door the best he could with his hands full and then heard Jim cheerfully say, “Coming!”

As Jim opened the door, Sebastian’s excitement took a huge nosedive. Jim was in pajamas once again and on his neck, quite obviously, was a large dark purple hickey.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I wasn't planning on updating till Sunday, but here we are! Thanks for reading! I'm excited for y'all to read the next couple of chapters, they're pretty juicy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian has too many feelings and Jim is far too good at exploiting them

Sebastian promptly dropped all of his shopping bags in the doorway and took hold of Jim’s jaw to turn his head. His sudden tunnel vision caused him to not see the small smirk on Jim’s face.  _ A hickey? _ A hickey? Sebastian realized  _ this _ was why Jim had told him to leave the night before. Jim rejected his advances and the  _ routine _ they had all so he could what? Get fucked by someone else? Did he have other men that he just rode around for fun as he did with Sebastian?  _ You’re just not that special.  _

He didn’t realize how tightly he was holding Jim’s jaw or how long he was standing there until Jim grabbed onto his wrist and pulled his hand away from his face before speaking, “Moran! Let  _ go. _ ” Sebastian’s head was spinning as he took his hand away from Jim’s face. He was hit by a wave of…  _ Jealousy, you’re jealous, Sebastian. _ He couldn’t deny it. Sebastian so desperately wanted to not give a shit, be aloof about the whole thing and say “no big deal”, but he couldn’t. His response was a dead giveaway and that large purple mark on Jim’s skin made Sebastian want to squeeze the life out of someone; Preferably the bastard that did it, but at this point, Sebastian would take what he could get. He was still standing in the doorway when Jim spoke again, “Come in and put everything away.”

“No. What the  _ fuck _ is that?” Sebastian asked, realizing it was the first time he’d spoke to Jim since he got there, “You think you can ju--”

“I can do whatever I want, Sebastian. Get inside before I make you go home.  _ Again, _ ” Jim pointed out, without even raising his voice.

Sebastian was absolutely furious but didn’t know what else he could do, so he picked up all the bags he’d dumped in front of the door and tossed them in front of the fridge. He thrust the briefcase of money into Jim’s hand without saying another word. While he pulled off his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, Jim happily skipped off to his bedroom with his money.

There had only been a few times in Sebastian’s life that he wanted to punch a hole in a wall and this was one of them; Another time, oddly enough, was when his father made him join the military. He initially didn’t want to do it, it was a punishment for his history of fuck ups; An excuse for Sebastian’s father to get him out of the way. He did end up punching a hole in his bathroom wall, a fuck you before he vowed not to see his father again. Sebastian decided against punching a hole in Jim’s wall. While angry, he still respected Jim too much to do that; He also had no idea how much trouble it would get him in, and he didn’t want to find out.

Jim returned from his bedroom and slipped past Sebastian into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of red wine from his wine cooler. He picked out two glasses before hopping up onto the counter and pouring a glass for the both of them. Sebastian finished aggressively putting things away and had moved onto aggressively chopping vegetables. Jim smirked to himself and crossed one leg over the other before speaking to Sebastian, “Would you like a glass of wine?”

“No.”

“Oooh now  _ there’s _ a surprise. Before I could hardly get you to stop drinking. Too bad, I already poured one for you.”

Sebastian slammed the knife he was using onto the cutting board with a loud clank and barked, “God _ dammit,  _ Jim what the fuck is wrong with you!?”

Jim furrowed his brow at the audacity that Sebastian was showing. He set his glass down and then slid off the counter with more ease than when he had climbed up. Sebastian was clearly still furious, but Jim was unphased. “Sebastian,” He said soothingly as he delicately grabbed onto the end of Sebastian’s tie. He smoothed his thumb over the fabric until his gentle manner faded quickly and he pulled on his tie, grabbing the knife Sebastian had slammed onto the cutting board. Jim pulled Sebastian by his tie and impaled it to the cutting board, which left Sebastian stuck with that short leash Jim loved to give him. He gripped onto Sebastian’s hair so he could look him in the eye while he reprimanded him, “You do not have  _ any  _ authority over who I have sex with, do you understand? You don’t have  _ any _ say just because I have sex with you. Nothing gives you the right to be  _ this _ jealous, Sebastian.” He listened intently to Jim and gripped onto the counter tightly, with his knees pressed against the counter for leverage.  _ Fuck _ . “Did you think you were special, hmm?” Jim pulled Sebastian’s head back to look at the ceiling and spoke quietly in his ear, “You honestly thought you were the  _ only _ one I knew everything about and the only guy that I  _ let _ fuck me? Don’t delude yourself, Moran.” Finally, he let go of Sebastian’s hair and grabbed the glass of wine he poured for him, the sound of glass meeting marble obvious in the fresh silence, “Finish making dinner and drink your wine.”

He stood there with his hands gripped on the counter for a moment. Sebastian had to keep reminding himself that he wasn’t special to Jim at all. He kept forgetting, hoping that maybe he was the lucky one. Far from it, he felt rather unlucky. Sebastian pulled the knife from the cutting board with a grunt and smoothed out his tie before he continued to chop the vegetables he’d laid out.  _ You're not special and you're never going to be. _

Despite the fact he looked like a dog that had just got kicked, Sebastian still drank his wine; When Jim says drink, you drink. If Jim says you’re nothing, then that’s what you are. He knew he had to do better if he was going to be considered special. Solve the job in a clever way, continue to be a good fuck, and don’t be jealous.  _ But you  _ **_are_ ** _ jealous. _ Sebastian downed the rest of his wine in one swig before sliding the potatoes he’d chopped into the medium-sized stockpot on the stove. 

Jim noticed that Sebastian had finished his wine, so he broke the silence, “What did you learn about Harold?”

Sebastian wiped his mouth with his exposed forearm and then stirred his concoction; He’d made this stew for a couple of women before and it didn’t fail to please. He hoped it would be a way to redeem himself. “Well,” He started, “He bought something from behind some warehouse. With a duffle bag full of money.”

“Really? Oh, how interesting. You don’t know what he purchased?”

He shook his head and put a lid on the pot before turning his attention to Jim, setting his empty glass down next to him, “No, whatever he bought was in a bag the whole time, but he was being precious about it, holding it like a damned baby.”

Jim let out a “hmm” as he refilled Sebastian’s wine, “Well, Moran, you’ll figure it out. Sad to say you can’t kill him since Chris gave us that money, but if he suffers a little injury, no one will be mad,” He explained while sliding the glass back to Sebastian. He leaned over and noticed another bag on the floor, “What do you have over there, Sebastian?”

He glanced over at where Jim was looking and then grabbed the bag. “I needed some supplies,” He explained while about to pull everything out to show Jim, but he just circumvented that and grabbed the bag from Sebastian’s hands.

“Oooh! Binoculars, a notebook, very good… Sebby, do you have a knife? You need a good knife,” Jim stuffed everything back into the bag and handed it back to Sebastian, “I’ll get you an excellent one, don’t worry.”

Sebastian chuckled as he set the bag down by his jacket, “Do I get presents again?”

“As long as you’re a good boy. I’m only generous to individuals that deserve it.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Sebastian recalled all the pub owners that wouldn’t give him a drink, how they were likely good boys and girls to get their dreams funded. Or at the very least they would have to  consequently be good boys and girls; Presents now, actions later. Jim never gave things away for free or just out of the goodness of his heart. Sebastian had a suspicion there wasn’t a whole lot of goodness in there.

“I deserve it,” Sebastian asserted, hopping onto the counter with much less effort than Jim.

“You do? I thought you were a whiny ill-behaved mutt.”

Sebastian let out a growl that only furthered Jim’s point, but he didn’t notice the irony, “I get the job done, don’t I?”

“Theoretically, yes. Most of your work has  _ barely _ met my standards but you  _ have _ only been working for me for two weeks. Remember, I don’t reward mediocrity, I reward  _ excellence,  _ and I want you to strive for perfection, _ ”  _ Jim dictated and looked Sebastian up and down. He then set a hand on Sebastian’s jaw and cooed, “I know you can be perfect, Sebastian.”

Whiplash, as usual. Sebastian went from being insulted to soft clay in Jim’s hands. He believed he could be perfect because Jim said so. He had to be, there was no other option. Sebastian stared at Jim for a long moment before licking his lips and speaking quietly, “I’ll be perfect… For you.”

Jim couldn’t hide his grin anymore. He rubbed his thumb against Sebastian’s stubbly jaw, “Look at that, you can be so docile when you calm down. So stressed over a little mark on my neck.” Jim took his hand away from his face, leaving Sebastian looking surprisingly embarrassed, before asking, “Is dinner ready yet?”

* * *

While Sebastian finished off making and plating dinner, Jim slithered away to the couch and finished off the last of the wine left in the bottle. Sebastian busied himself in the kitchen, plating their food and making it  _ perfect  _ while he got buzzed off his second glass of wine. Finally, he sat down next to Jim with a bowl of stew for the both of them and a satisfied sigh before announcing, “Dinner is served.”

“Look at that, you  _ do _ know how to cook. I’m impressed, Sebastian,” Jim remarked as he picked up the bowl of food. 

Sebastian grinned at Jim’s compliment and started eating, letting out a pleased “mm” because it  _ had _ turned out well. He hadn’t really cooked for himself in years, besides the breakfast he’d made himself since being in Jim’s employ. Sebastian’s mother wanted to make sure he had skills in the kitchen from a young age because no son of her’s was going to go hungry or end up married to a woman that did everything for him. Sebastian was surprised he hadn’t lost his touch. “Thank you, sir,” He replied.

Jim gave Sebastian a pat on the thigh and promptly took his hand back in favor of eating his dinner. A new look for him; Sebastian had noticed from their meetings that Jim didn’t eat very much, he just drank whatever beverage he had.  _ Must be hungry _ . 

He couldn’t help but watch him. The way he moved, the way he sat, the way his navy blue silk pajamas draped over his frame. The dark hickey on his neck. Sebastian quickly stopped looking before Jim noticed. It didn’t matter, because Jim noticed everything, “Do you like staring at me?”

_ Busted _ . Sebastian didn’t know how he wanted to answer that question. Admitting he’d spent long periods of time staring at his boss would be far too much ammo against him. But Jim could see through his lies. He licked his lips and then admitted, “Sometimes. Does it bother you?”

He considered the question for a moment and then responded, “No. But I am bothered by that fact you continue to hide it. You know better than that.”

_ Double busted _ . He squirmed in his seat on the couch and cleared his throat before looking over at Jim, who was looking right back. Sebastian felt exposed, there was no cover here. “I’ll… keep that in mind.”

“Speaking of which,” Jim started, setting down his half-eaten bowl of stew, “I’ve  _ kept in mind _ what you said last night.”

Sebastian had a moment of panic when he remembered that he’d been drunk and rattled off some things he  _ didn’t _ remember while jerking off in his kitchen; He remembered trying to keep himself from saying something damning, but apparently that hadn’t worked. It didn’t matter, Jim was always going to use what he had to say against him. Sebastian licked his lips and then asked, “What ...did I say?”

“If I remember correctly, and I  _ do _ , you said you ‘don’t care what you have to do’ to hear me scream again. If you’re so enamored with me,  _ Sebastian, _ then you have to suck my cock.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thanks for reading! I hope that you enjoyed and I can't wait for y'all to read the rest of it!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian does what he's told

“No, absolutely not,” Sebastian put it bluntly in a knee jerk reaction to Jim’s demand. He had a feeling Jim would ask at some point and he  _ knew _ that he didn’t want to. Obviously, itt was still leftover homophobia, the idea that sucking a man’s dick made him any less of a man. He shook his head and then made his point again, “I’m not doing it.”

Jim reached over and grabbed the bowl from Sebastian’s hand, “I didn’t say you had a choice and  _ you _ said you didn’t care what you had to do. Suck my cock or go home, Sebastian.”

_ Fuckfuckfuck _ . He licked his lips and looked up at Jim, trying to hide his embarrassment. Sebastian didn’t want to leave so Jim was right, he didn’t have a choice. He was going to have to do it. “...Now?” Sebastian asked hesitantly.

“I’m not going to wait all night, so what do you think?” Jim asked as he brought his foot up to push at Sebastian’s thigh, “Go, on the floor.”

He did what he was told but was still clearly hesitant as he kneeled in front of Jim.  _ You said you’d do anything. _ Sebastian exhaled deeply as he grabbed onto the elastic of Jim’s pajamas and underwear at the same time and pulled them down while Jim adjusted. He pulled his pants down just to his thighs, enough to expose Jim’s hard cock. Sebastian thought back to all the women in his life that had sucked his dick and he wondered if they struggled as much as he did.  _ You don’t even have his cock in your mouth yet, calm down.  _ Setting one hand just above Jim’s knee, he slipped the tip of his cock into his mouth with a small “mm”, which made Jim grin and snicker at him.

“There you go, Sebastian,” Jim muttered while he looked down at him. He reached down and set his hand on the top of Sebastian’s head and cooed, “Use your tongue like a good boy.”

Sebastian gripped onto Jim’s knee and groaned as he flicked his tongue at the tip of his cock; A woman he’d met at a pub (big surprise) did that to him and it was fucking good, so he figured Jim would approve too. The noise Jim made confirmed his suspicion. There was something about positive reinforcement that really got Sebastian going; He sucked more of Jim’s cock into his mouth and slid his hand up to his thigh.  _ You really meant it when you said you’d do anything. _

Jim let out what Sebastian hoped was a genuine moan and not just him patronizing him as he slid his fingers into Sebastian’s hair. He gripped his muddy brown hair in his fist, but he didn’t direct Sebastian; He just held on and let Sebastian try to show off. And he was plenty willing to show off, despite how embarrassed he may have been. Sebastian tried not to make it obvious that his embarrassment just added to his arousal. He got so much of Jim’s cock into his mouth that it was making him choke, which made Jim howl with laughter.

“You fucking depraved dog, you  _ would _ do anything!” Jim moaned loudly as he held Sebastian’s head in place, keeping his cock in his mouth. He choked again and could feel the drool sliding from his mouth as he looked up Jim, absolutely trapped. “Passable, for your first time,” He declared as he pulled Sebastian off his dick, leaving him sitting there with a trail of spit down his chin. Jim was clearly disgusted as he sneered, “Clean yourself up and then hurry up and fuck me.”

Sebastian knelt on the floor dazed as Jim pulled his pajamas and underwear off. He was buzzed before, from the wine, but now he felt downright drunk. Everything about this felt fucked up and so right, it sent a shiver up his spine. Finally, he realized what Jim had said and wiped the spit from his face with the back of his hand. He stood to his feet and undid his belt while he looked down at Jim, who was staring right back. Sebastian enjoyed their tendency to just stare at each other, not saying anything but still saying so much. He pulled off his pants and underwear before grabbing his lube from his jacket pocket; Sebastian knew better at this point than to leave his flat without it. He looked up at Jim as he was about to take off his gun holster, but Jim shook his head slowly, so he left it on.  _ Freaks. _

As he crawled onto the couch with Jim, he grabbed Sebastian’s face and made direct eye contact with him before stating, “If you like staring at me so much, then you’re gonna look right at me while you fuck me.” 

A chill ran through Sebastian and he nodded, which prompted Jim to let go.  _ He’s gonna see right through you. _ Sebastian got a small pool of lube in his palm and then smoothed it over his dick, which he’d subconsciously been wanting to do since Jim told him he’d have to suck his cock and consciously when his dick was actually in his mouth. He shuddered and then guided his cock inside of Jim, which made both of them moan. Looking down at Jim felt strange, too intimate; Like Jim  _ was _ looking right through him. He wanted to look away but Sebastian knew better at this point. And he didn’t want to act out just for the sake of it. Not yet, at least. 

_ Make him scream like you wanted.  _ Sebastian gripped onto Jim’s hips and slid further inside of him with a shudder. It didn’t take long till he was thrusting his cock in and out of Jim, his nails dug further into Jim’s hips. He was determined to make every time he fucked Jim something to remember. If Jim was going to sleep with other people, then so be it. But  _ he  _ was going to do it the best.  _ He  _ was going to fuck him harder and make his whole body shudder every time; Each time better than the time before it. 

Jim could see the determination in his eyes, so he gripped onto Sebastian’s tie and pulled him in closer, still keeping his eye contact as he spoke through his labored breathing, “So … Keen to impress me!” He let out a loud moan as the sound of Sebastian’s thighs slapping against his skin echoed through the room; It made Sebastian grin because Jim couldn’t hide from him either.

“Was whoever fucked you this good, huh?” Sebastian asked, his breathing loud as sweat started to form on his forehead.

Jim let out a pleased groan, his back arching a little as he moaned, “Why do you … care?”

Sebastian let out a loud growl and grabbed onto Jim’s throat with one hand, not slowing his hips down at all as he snarled at him, “Answer the fucking question!” He knew this wasn’t going to be the last time he said this to Jim; Even at this point, it wasn’t the first time. Jim’s need to be mysterious went from cool to pissing Sebastian off in a very short amount of time. 

Jim started to laugh and he gripped onto Sebastian’s wrist, “Choke me harder and make me cum then I will.”

_ Fuck that was hot. _ He couldn’t help but moan at Jim’s words. Sebastian obeyed, his hand tightening around Jim’s throat as he fucked him hard. He didn’t grip too hard, just enough to make breathing a little more difficult. It wasn’t the first time he’d choked somebody during sex, Sebastian ended up attracting people into breath play; He assumed it had something to do with the size of his hands. Sebastian watched Jim pant out moans and his eyelids flutter; It gave him that feeling in his stomach he’d felt back in that basement room in that old warehouse by the docks. He still hadn’t figured out what it was. Or at the very least, he was lying to himself about what it was.  _ Too early to say. _

He finally let go of Jim’s throat and out came the scream Sebastian had been waiting for. Sebastian couldn’t help it as he leaned in and kissed Jim, stifling any other screams that might’ve escaped. He could feel Jim’s body tense in his grip as he orgasmed and that only made Sebastian do the same. Jim broke the kiss and moaned when Sebastian came inside of him, which made him grin; He’d made a big deal about Sebastian not cumming in him, and yet here he was enjoying it.

Sebastian pulled his cock out of Jim with a small groan and rested his forehead on Jim’s shoulder while he caught his breath. He could hear and feel Jim breathing loudly beneath him, just waiting to get pushed away. When it didn’t happen, Sebastian slid his hand up Jim’s side and enjoyed the feeling of his skin.  _ He’s so thin and his skin is so smooth. _ Without thinking about it, he started to kiss along Jim’s shoulder. That was clearly pushing it, as Jim set a hand on Sebastian’s gun, his fingers lightly touching the edge of the piece of leather that held it in place. Sebastian pushed himself and looked down at him. Eye contact, again. He stared up at Sebastian with his eyebrows furrowed in what Sebastian thought was sympathy but quickly went to annoyance. He said nothing, he just pulled his legs up and slid out from under him. Sebastian watched him quickly leave the room and then go into the bathroom, shutting the door a little harder than usual.

He stayed on his hands and knees on the couch for a moment, listening to what Jim was doing. It was quiet until he heard the shower turn on. Sebastian let out a sigh and climbed off the couch.  _ Did you think he would let you do that?  _ Noticing that there was cum on the couch, Sebastian went to the kitchen to find something to clean it up. It was an adequate distraction from the feeling in his stomach that was  _ still _ there. He didn’t like it, because he knew what it was. The  _ last _ thing he wanted was to fall for Jim. He didn’t need that stress in his life, but here he was: Gently kissing him and thinking about his hair and his skin. Sebastian cleaned off the couch while he took deep breaths.  _ Don’t break anything, it’s not your house.  _

Sebastian needed another distraction, so he grabbed his binder of notes and his fresh notebook before he got dressed and sat on the couch. He wasn’t sure if Jim still wanted him there, but he didn’t want to leave while he was in the shower, so Sebastian started to transcribe the information he knew about the target.  _ Work, always a good distraction from your feelings. _ He was surprised about all the information he was able to gather about Harold at this point, despite only following him around for a couple of days. Sebastian was in the process of folding his papers up and slipping them into the pocket of his notebook when he heard the shower turn off. He waited, listening. Jim opened the door and Sebastian was going to say something, but he heard him walk down the hall into his bedroom instead.

_ He’s going to make you leave anyway, so get your shit together.  _ Sebastian sighed and stood up, letting out a small groan. He collected all of their dishes and took them to the kitchen, putting away any leftovers they had and washing the dishes; If some of the people in Sebastian’s life could see him now, they’d be surprised at how conscientious he was about keeping Jim’s space clean. Sebastian was in the process of putting on his shoes when Jim came into the living room wearing a different set of pajamas. He tossed a t-shirt at Sebastian, one that was clearly too big for Jim. 

“Take your shoes off,” He insisted before vaguely gesturing down the hall, “There’s a closet with an extra blanket and pillow. Good night, Moran.”

“Why do I need to--”

“No car service this late. Good  _ night _ , Sebastian.”

“Right, no car. Good night, sir,” He acknowledged, but Jim was already halfway down the hall.  _ I hate it when he does that.  _ Sebastian pulled his shoes back off and then undressed again down to his boxer briefs before slipping on the t-shirt Jim had handed to him.  _ Wonder where he got this _ . It smelled like it had been in a closet for a while, so it was clearly saved for rainy days. As he walked down the hall, he thought about how unexpected this was. Jim let him stay but made him sleep on the couch. Why? He had every right to kick Sebastian out and make him go home; Sebastian  _ barely _ believed Jim couldn’t call a car to take him home. It had to be in an effort to torture him, just like everything else was; An experiment to find Sebastian’s breaking point.  _ I don’t see you leaving. _

Sebastian set the blanket down on the couch and tossed the pillow where Jim’s head had been. He turned the lights off before he lied down on the couch and pulled the blanket over himself. Jim let him stay over, but he was so far away, so it just left Sebastian yearning. He was left for far too long with that feeling in his stomach, like he was going down a large drop in a roller coaster. He sat in silence like that for a while, just staring up at the light from outside reflected up at the ceiling.  _ You poor bastard. _ Sebastian groaned and turned over onto his side and desperately tried to sleep. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian makes breakfast and Jim has a request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy Friday folks. i've been trying to edit this chapter for days here it is!

Sebastian didn’t sleep much. He tossed and turned, spending entirely too much time beating himself over his feelings and blankly staring at the pajama pants Jim had left behind. How could he be so stupid? He fell for all of Jim’s manipulative bullshit and he fell hard. And he liked it, he wanted it, but the other half of the equation wanted nothing more than to dangle him around like a marionette; Sebastian was a tool to help all of Jim’s plans come to fruition. This was a job and he couldn’t bother to avoid making it about him.  _ Get better at hiding your feelings. _

He awoke with a start when Jim threw a towel at his face and spoke far too loudly for 5 am, clapping at him for emphasis, “Sebastian come on, up! Shower and then make us breakfast. There is a clean suit for you in the bathroom.”

When he pulled the towel off his face, Sebastian was met with an already dressed Jim, who was starting to make himself tea. He’d almost forgotten what Jim looked like in a suit, or maybe he was just seeing him in a new light. All of Jim’s suits fit him perfectly, how it smoothly followed the curve of his shoulders, which Sebastian was sure he paid good money for outside of the initial price tag. Sebastian’s knowledge of fashion was limited, but he just knew that most men walking around didn’t have suits that fit  _ that _ well.

As he stumbled sleeplessly to the bathroom, he wondered how early Jim had gotten up. The sun hadn’t even risen and Sebastian only got about 3 hours himself.  _ Maybe he just doesn’t sleep.  _ He didn’t put it past Jim to just forgo sleeping; Jim would give him some explanation about how unimportant it was or he’d dodge the question entirely. Sebastian pulled off his shirt and underwear before he climbed into the shower, squinting at the knobs till he figured out how it worked. The products in the shower were simple, but as with everything Jim owned, they were also expensive. He tried not to think too hard about the fact he’d smell like Jim for the day.

He dried himself off in the shower and then got dressed, putting on the suit that Jim provided for him; It wasn’t the suit he was wearing yesterday and it was tailored for Sebastian's body.  _ He just had a suit your size laying around?  _ Sebastian let out a quick “huh” and added the fact to the growing list of times Jim was one step ahead. Sometimes it was comforting to him that Jim was in control; Jim had said not long ago that if Sebastian was ever unsure, he could look to him. Sebastian didn’t need to ask what his orders were or where he should be. At least if he couldn’t get affection, he could have comfort in the regimented lifestyle Jim gave him.

Jim was seated on the couch when Sebastian came into the room, enjoying a cup of tea while sitting in the corner of the L couch with his laptop. He didn’t acknowledge Sebastian when he walked in, so Sebastian simply walked into the kitchen and started to make breakfast from whatever he could find; He went shopping for Jim yesterday but didn’t realize till then that Jim had him buy breakfast items. “Did you tell me to stay over just so you didn’t have to make breakfast?” Sebastian asked as he cracked a few eggs into a bowl, finding all shells still intact despite his fit he’d thrown the night before.

“Do you think I would do something like that, dear Basher?”

“Yeah, 100 percent I do, are you fucking kidding me?” Sebastian stated bluntly while pouring the mixed eggs into a pan. When Jim didn’t respond, Sebastian assumed that was the end of it, but he heard Jim’s footsteps behind him then felt his hand on his back. It made him jump, just a little, and he was surprised to find the hand didn’t move.

“You impressed me with dinner, I assumed you would do the same with breakfast,” Jim stated, his hand still on Sebastian’s back. He lightly tapped on Sebastian’s forearm and murmured, “Don’t forget the bacon, tiger.”

Sebastian’s skin crawled when he felt Jim’s hand go across his back, glancing sideways to watch Jim hop on the counter.  _ What is he doing?  _ He was starting to get really tired of trying to predict what Jim was gonna do. He knew that Jim knew exactly what _ he _ was doing but to Sebastian, he was entirely unpredictable. He had learned some things, the fact that Jim was being so sweet probably meant he wanted something from him. Sebastian decided to wait and see what happened, but he was exhausted already.

He had forgotten about the bacon, so he pulled it out of the fridge and set it on the counter. Sebastian watched the eggs slowly congeal together, quickly tossing some salt and pepper on it and mixing it around, as he’d zoned out and forgot about it earlier. He slid the finished scrambled eggs onto two separate plates and then started the bacon. Sebastian was coming to terms that this breakfast wouldn’t be  _ perfect _ , but he hoped it would be passable. He turned and asked Jim, “How do you like your bacon?”

Jim was seated with one leg over the other while he looked through his phone, though he glanced up at Sebastian when he spoke, “Crispy, but don’t burn it.”

Sebastian nodded and turned his attention back to the bacon. He laid a paper towel down on a plate and then set the finished bacon on top; Normally, for himself, he wouldn’t bother, but he didn’t think Jim would appreciate his bacon with the grease still clinging to it. He dabbed the pieces off and put 2 on each plate. Sebastian was going to hand the plate to Jim, who was still sitting on the counter, but he slipped past him and into the living room; He took that as a cue to follow after him. 

Before he sat down, Jim took the plate from Sebastian. “I was hoping you might make more,” He remarked, “But I suppose there are more important things for you to do than slice fruit all morning.” He picked up a piece of bacon and ate it delicately, clearly trying to keep both his face and his suit clean. Jim set his plate on the table and reached up to push Sebastian’s damp hair back from his face. The smile on his face only added to his suspicion that Jim wanted something from him. “I think you’ve really done all you can from just watching Harold.”

“Is that right?” Sebastian asked as he chewed on a piece of bacon. He was running on far too little sleep to bother with manners. “What should I do then?”

Jim ran his fingers through Sebastian’s hair again which left him with a confused look on his face. That didn’t deter Jim, as he suggested, “It would make me  _ really _ happy if you snuck into his house. I’d like to see how your breaking and entering skills are.” He continued to play with Sebastian’s hair, his eyes wandering across his face, inspecting his tired features, “You’ve been such a good boy, I wanted to see you be my  _ perfect _ boy.”

Sebastian’s shirt sleeves were rolled up, so the goosebumps he had were visible on his forearm. How badly he wanted to be Jim’s perfect boy. Maybe if he were perfect, Jim would treat him special; Maybe he would run his fingers through Sebastian’s hair  _ all _ the time. Sebastian shifted his shoulders to sit up a little straighter and agreed, “I can do that...I can be perfect.”

“Oh, I know you can,” Jim cooed as he set a hand on Sebastian’s jaw, rather affectionately running his thumb across Sebastian’s stubble, “Prove me right.”

He nodded and Jim took his hand away all too quickly. For Sebastian, that small moment of intimacy could carry his exhausted body through the day.  _ Do this right and you’ll get more. _ He knew he was a fool for wanting so desperately for some kind of affection from his boss, an idiot for enjoying what Jim gave him. Sebastian knew it was all manipulation, Jim held no fondness for him.  _ When are you going to get that through your thick skull? _

When Jim didn’t receive a reply from Sebastian, who had moved onto eating his breakfast like a ghost drifting through a graveyard, he continued, “You can look over Harold’s floor plans and formulate a plan for getting inside. Take some time and then we’ll give your little protege Avery a call to pick you up. But you are thoroughly invested in your breakfast, it would seem. Are you listening?”

“Floor plans and make a plan. Call Avery. Breakfast,” Sebastian mumbled off as he ate.

“You  _ were _ listening. I’d like a little more enthusiasm from you, have a cup of tea, Basher,” Jim suggested and he went back to his breakfast, still trying his hardest not to dirty himself.

Sebastian finished slowly eating his breakfast while Jim picked at his food and glanced through his phone, the usual. He waited until he finished eating to make a cup of tea; The warm beverage woke him up considerably. Jim pulled out his laptop as Sebastian looked through the blueprints of Harold’s house. It was nice, working beside Jim like this. Starting his day with him, that was part of the reason he enjoyed their breakfast meetings at that cafe Jim always took him to. Another way to give himself a structure, rather than floundering all alone. 

“Do we have cameras on Harold’s house?” Sebastian asked as he circled the back exit to his house.

“I don’t know,” Jim responded without looking, “Do you ask anyone to put cameras up?”

The response surprised him and he chuckled, replacing the cap on his blue ballpoint pen with a small ‘click’, “I didn’t know I could do that.”

“Well don’t forget, tiger, you  _ are _ my second in command. The only person you answer to is me and all the rest of them answer to  _ us _ . So if you want cameras, we can get them.” 

A grin crept onto Sebastian’s face and he licked his lips. He was the second in command, he kept forgetting about that. Sebastian hadn’t interacted with many other people under Jim’s employ, a small handful. The only situation where he really felt like he had authority was with Avery. Dexter was essentially equal in Sebastian’s head, and a friend, so that didn’t count. But still, the idea inflated his ego quite a bit. “Might be too late, but I’ll keep that in mind,” Sebastian responded.

“Wilson can get you whatever you need, for the most part, so you can ask him. He’s supposed to be back from Italy,” Jim mentioned in passing.

“Yeah? Good to know. For now, I’m going to wait for him to leave and I’ll have Avery follow him so I know how much time I have.”

“Do you know when he’s going to leave?” Jim asked, still absorbed in whatever he was working on.

“Our man Harold has a bonsai class he goes to on Thursday mornings.”

“Oh  _ good _ !” Jim closed his laptop and then moved in close to look at the blueprints that Sebastian had, pointing at the back entrance he circled; Now he obviously had Jim’s attention. He set his other hand on Sebastian’s knee and asked, “You’re going through the back, yes? How?”

“I’ve got a few options. He seems like the key under the mat type but I know most of those back doors have glass on them.”

“So then you’ll have made noise and you’ll have broken glass to contend with. Won’t that be a problem?”

“A problem? Not really, it’s inconvenient more than anything. But if I don’t take anything and use a well-placed football, he’ll write it off,” Sebastian was speaking in a hushed voice and he didn’t realize how close Jim and himself were, how tightly Jim was gripping his knee.

“I knew I hired you for a reason, Basher. You’re clever. Do you think you can get in and out unnoticed?” He asked, now setting his other hand gently on Sebastian’s jaw and leaning in closer.

Sebastian swallowed and his hand gripped into a fist. He wanted to kiss him so badly, Jim was close so it wouldn’t be hard. He considered last night when he kissed along Jim’s exposed shoulder; Jim didn’t react particularly well. Sebastian didn’t have his gun on yet so he couldn’t threaten him like that again. He finally nodded and said quietly, “I’m your good boy, aren’t I?”

Jim was clearly having the time of his life, based on the grin on his face. He slid his hand up Sebastian’s thigh to his crotch and groped his cock. “How does one dog get so hard so easily?” Jim asked before taking his hands away, along with any chance of kissing him, “It’s a good plan, Moran.  _ Try _ not to get spotted, I don’t want to have to break you out of jail.”

His hands were still balled into fists and his dick throbbed in his pants; Jim’s favorite, to leave Sebastian sexually frustrated. He ran his fingers through Sebastian’s hair as he passed by him and went to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Sebastian finally took a breath and unclenched his hands. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to text Avery.

Pick me up from the boss’ flat, I’ll let you know what the plan is then

whatcha doing at Jim’s so early for? late night?

How about you stop asking questions and pick me up?

sure thing boss, I’ll be there in 10

He didn’t bother texting him back after that, he just mumbled, “Little shit.” Sebastian packed up his stuff and slipped his shoes on, remembering to put his gun holster back on.  _ Might need that. _ While he was putting his suit jacket back on, he noticed that Jim was still in the bathroom; He hadn’t heard any water running or anything.  _ What is he doing? _ His phone buzzed in his pocket, indicating that his ride was here. Sebastian knocked on the door and announced, “Hey, I’ll see you later, Jim.”

“Yes fine, thank you, Moran.”

Sebastian furrowed his brow and patted his hand on the door, “Right.” The sudden coldness was nothing new, but after the moments they’d spent together it was particularly painful.  _ Stop doing this to yourself. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey thanks for reading! Can Sebastian manage to break into someone's house while working on 3 hours of sleep? You'll have to find out


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian does a B&E and, unfortunately, has to do some other bullshit too

Sebastian slipped into the back seat and Avery was already turned around peering at him through the open window that separated the back and front seat. He had this stupid shit-eating grin on his face and Sebastian knew exactly why. “Don’t say a goddamn word,” Sebastian insisted.

“Hey hey, I didn’t say anything, boss,” He said as he turned back, but he definitely mumbled something along the lines of ‘damn you’ve got balls’, which at least made Sebastian laugh. “Where we headed?”

“Wherever I can find a football and then Harold’s house,”

Avery looked confused but he did what Sebastian asked.

He rubbed his face, noting that he should shave tomorrow, and sighed. Sebastian thought hard about his morning with Jim and how odd it all was. It was all so planned and had been before Sebastian had even gotten to Jim’s flat the night before. The breakfast items Sebastian bought at the grocery store, the suit that perfectly fit him, and the fact Jim  _ made _ Sebastian stay over. Why? What was the point of having him stay over for breakfast but make him sleep on the couch? Not to mention the way Jim acted when he left.

Avery pulled into the parking lot of a sporting good store and Sebastian got out, bought a single football, and left. When he got back in the car, Avery asked, “What’s the football for, boss?”

“Easy enough way to make a break-in not look like a break-in,” Sebastian replied, pulling the cardboard off the ball.

“Oh shit, you’re breaking in already?” He exclaimed as he headed off to Harold’s house, “What’s the plan?”

Sebastian explained to Avery that Harold leaves for a while on Thursdays and that Avery was supposed to keep an eye on him while Sebastian snuck inside. It was a simple enough plan that Avery didn’t have any objections, he was no stranger to just sitting and watching someone. Avery drove to Harold’s house and slowed to a stop a half a block away, but he was smart, all this time and he hadn’t parked in the same spot twice. The two sat around in silence until, as Sebastian had said, Harold left his house without a fuss. Just to keep it safe, Sebastian waited till Harold was around the corner till he sprung out of the car, giving it a pat on the side to send Avery off.

He kept it casual as he crossed the street to Harold’s home and to his back gate. The neighborhood was quiet, with most people gone to work already, which made this all the easier. Sebastian reached his arm over the gate and unhooked the latch. The gate groaned as he pushed it open and Sebastian winced, making sure the gate didn’t slam closed. It was a pretty well kept and lush back garden, which matched the front yard. There were loads of healthy flowers in a consistent warm color palette along with well manicured bushes; Sebastian wondered if it was Harold’s pet project or his wife’s. 

In Sebastian’s opinion, those fake plastic rocks that you could hide keys in were utterly useless, they stuck out like a sore thumb. He picked up the rock from its hiding place in a bed of herbs, swiveling it open and pulling out the key.  _ Easy peasy.  _ He approached the back door and stuck the key in, but no luck. He flipped it over, no luck again. No which way it went, the damned thing didn’t fit. Sebastian silently made a “are you fucking kidding me?” gesture before putting the key back and tossing the plastic rock back where it came from.  _ Well, fuck, time to break a window. _

He groaned in annoyance while picking up an actual rock to break a hole big enough in the glass that, theoretically, a football could fit through. It  _ did _ make a fair amount of noise but Sebastian didn’t waste time, he reached inside the hole and unlocked the door, making his way into the house after dusting off his shoes on the back welcome mat. There was a dog barking distantly as he shut the door, but he paid it no mind as he was more concerned with not disturbing the glass as he walked. He set down the new football, letting it roll a little for realism. Now that he was inside, Sebastian made his way up the stairs to Harold’s room, right when you came up the stairs, first door on the left.

Harold and Cynthia’s room was basically out of an Ikea catalog, full of mostly white, flat, particleboard furniture. Sebastian still didn’t have an answer to the question “who’s idea was all the flowers” as the bedspread looked as lush as the backyard; He was starting to expect Harold, due to the amount of bonsai that were placed atop different shelves. The man had dozens of them, all in various states of growth and decoration; A few were still being trained to grow the right way while others were a beautifully put together scene.

The room was still neat, despite the fact that Harold was starting to lose it. Sebastian assumed Harold was the type to clean and organize when he was stressed out. A mess that he actually had control over.

Sebastian’s key mission was to figure out what was in that duffle bag that Harold held so preciously; He knew that was key. Any other information he got after that was a bonus, largely because he wasn’t sure what he was looking for after that. The only issue was his exhaustion was starting to catch up with him. Sebastian blinked his eyes and rubbed his face before starting under the bed; A couple of boxes of photos and other sentimental nonsense but devoid of much else. He opened the closet and let out a tired exhale while he looked, but it was a dead-end, it was just full of clothes. As he was digging through a sock drawer, he found the duffle bag. Sebastian let out a sigh of relief and opened it up. Inside, much to his surprise was enough explosives to blow up something  _ big _ .

He didn’t even have time to process the discovery when he heard the front door open and then close quickly. Sebastian went wide-eyed and quickly zipped the bag shut, shoving it back into its spot before he tucked himself under the bed.  _ Oh fuck, what the fuck??!  _ Angrily, Sebastian pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Avery, who quickly texted back:

What the fuck kid you were supposed to tell me when he left!

boss calm down, he’s still at his bonsai thing

what happened?

Avery’s text went unanswered when he heard whoever was in the house walk up the stairs. If it wasn’t Harold, then who was it? Sebastian could hear them moving in the other room, clearly moving quickly, before they walked into the very bedroom Sebastian was hiding in. It was Cynthia, Harold’s wife, which wasn’t any more comforting to Sebastian. This was supposed to be a simple recon mission and now he could feel his heart in his throat as she opened up a drawer right next to the bed. He would be absolutely screwed if she found him. And then there was the matter of the broken back window, which could potentially keep him in the house longer than he’d like if she found it.

Then it occurred to him: Cynthia is his wife, she would know what his schedule was. She was trying not to be seen by Harold just as much as Sebastian. He watched her gather up a few things from around the room and toss them into a bag she found in the closet. She zipped up the bag and moved to leave but she stopped, grabbing a picture off the nightstand, and then sat down on the bed.  _ Fucking go be sad about your husband someplace else!  _ Sebastian could hear her crying and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Oh, Harold you idiot…” She mumbled to herself. She lamented for what felt like an eternity before placing the object back and finally leaving the room, sniffling along the way.

He waited till he heard the front door open and then close before he got out from under the bed, quickly but quietly going down the stairs. He went out the way he came in, locking the door as he left. Sebastian got a few blocks between himself and Harold’s house before he checked his phone, giving Avery a quick text to let him know he was done and where to pick him up. Before he could put his phone away, he got a text from Dexter; Sebastian had time to kill, so he texted him back:

I’m back from Italy, are you still falling apart?

No mate i’m fine. Jim told me you were back

Do you wanna get dinner and drinks later? I’ve got another higher up you’re gonna like

Fuck yeah i’m in!

Hey I need cameras in front of Harold’s house. Jim said you could make that happen.

I’ll have them installed before the end of the day.

How is 7 for dinner?

Thank you

I’m fucking tired, but I’ll manage

Sebastian pocketed his phone when Avery pulled up next to him and he got into the back seat. He was so full of adrenaline when he rushed out of Harold’s house and when he finally got to sit down, his exhaustion came back. In desperate need of a nap, Sebastian was going to tell Avery to take him back to his flat, but he received a phone call. It was Jim.  _ Oh, how convenient.  _ “What can I do for you, sir?”

“Basher, dear! How did your B&E go?”

“It had its ups and downs. Cynthia dropped by, but she didn’t see me.”

“That is good to hear,” He added, purely a formality, as he quickly moved on to why he actually called, “I need you to go to Bristol and pick up a suit for me.”

“Bristol? You’re kidding me, right? Sir, I’m working on about 3 hours of sleep can somebody el--” But Jim cut him off.

“I don’t care  _ Sebastian _ . I have far too many things to do today so I need you to do this for me. In fact, I have to go. I’ll text you the address and later you can fill me in on what you found, bye-bye!”

Sebastian let out a growly, angry laugh before he pocketed his phone, “Avery we’re going to Bristol for a suit. Wake me up when we get there, yeah?” He tucked up against the door, ignoring Avery’s also justified annoyance at the 4-hour round trip they’d have to make just to make a damned errand for their boss. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but he’d take what he could get in the form of a nap. While he tried to sleep, his mind wandered to Jim, like most of his moments where he was left alone. He hated how obsessed with him he was, he just wished he was his boss and nothing more.

* * *

He slept for about 45 minutes, awaking to Avery shaking him by the knee, “Dude, Seb-- Fuck, Moran, wake your ass up.”

Sebastian blinked his eyes open and looked up at Avery, “Shit, alright kid I’m awake. Are we here?”

“Yeah, boss. You look like shit.”

Avery got back into the front seat as Sebastian waved him away. He gave himself a minute to reboot, rubbing his face and stretching before he walked into the tailor. There was a man in his 70s with white hair sitting behind the counter who smiled at Sebastian as he entered. “Hello, do you have an appointment?”

“No?” Sebastian responded and then continued, “I’m picking up a suit for Jim Moriarty.”

“Oh you must be Sebastian, he said you would be coming,” The man replied as he stood to his feet, “We should do your fitting first.”

“Whoa wait, a fitting?” Despite his protest, Sebastian still followed along with the old man, “Is that what he told you?”

“He made an appointment this morning. Jim always pays me so well, so of course, I could fit you in today.”

Sebastian sat down in the chair the old man gestured too before he walked away into another room. He slid down the green velvet chair, with his legs stretched out, and pulled his phone out of his pocket to text Avery:

Might be a while, apparently I’m doing a fitting

shit

Can I come in?

yeah go ahead

Avery came into the room a minute later, along with the old man. They both look surprised and Avery extended his hand to the old man to introduce himself, “Hey I’m Avery. I’m Mr. Moran’s driver.”

“Oh nice to meet you, Avery. I’m Richard. You can take Sebastian’s chair, he’s going to be standing most of the time anyway.”

“Believe me I’m aware,” Sebastian snapped as he pushed himself to his feet, “If you’ve got whiskey, I’d love some.” Richard handed a tuxedo that was on a wooden hanger to Sebastian and gestured to a door across the room.

“Go ahead and change in there. And I’ve got whiskey don’t worry.”

Avery settled in the chair that Sebastian vacated and put his hands behind his head, “Sorry, mate. He’s usually nicer than this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyy thanks for reading! I was posting links to my chapters as I posted them on Tumblr, but I haven't been able to post in days SO, if that's how you've found me then I'm sorry?   
> I had a schedule for posting for a while but now I really don't, but I try to post a new one every week.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian has drinks with his buddies, which gives him new insight on Jim. Still tired, though.

Richard was nothing if not thorough, which pissed Sebastian off at first, but after a whiskey and a half, it wasn't too bad; Sebastian admired his work ethic. He got to pal around with Avery and have free drinks, and by the end of the fitting, the tuxedo looked halfway decent on him, ignoring all the pins. Unfortunately, Sebastian had been standing there for 45 minutes and wanted nothing more than a nap and a handjob from Jim. He waddled his way off to the changing room, getting poked by a few pins while he took the tux off and changed into his suit; Some days, he just wanted to wear jeans and a t-shirt.

The pair hit traffic on their way back to London, but they made it to the pub in time for Sebastian to be fashionably late. Sebastian thanked Avery before rushing inside, finding Dexter seated at a table with whoever he'd brought along. They had short, well-manicured blonde hair, with half an inch of roots showing, and wearing a suit like the rest of the group. Dexter noticed Sebastian, despite the crowd, and waved him over before standing up.

"Sebastian! Damn, you look exhausted," Dexter laughed and pulled Sebastian into a hug before putting his arm around him and gesturing to the person he brought along, "This is Francis Barnes. Francis, this is the man that has the balls to have feelings for Moriarty."

"Oh shit!" Francis exclaimed as they got to their feet and shook Sebastian's hand, "Sebastian Moran, nice to meet ya. You look about like what I pictured."

Sebastian was uncomfortable with the fact that his feelings for Jim were common knowledge among his coworkers, and he was _clearly_ a few drinks behind the group; His buzz from the whiskeys he drank at the tailor was long gone by the time he reached London. At this point, he just wanted to go home, but he missed Dexter, so he stuck it through. Sebastian shook Francis' hand and said, "Nice to meet you too. I don't know who the fuck you are, so I can't say I pictured shit, but hey nice suit."

"He's usually nicer than this," Dexter promised, and Sebastian snaked out of Dexter's half hug to sit down in the booth.

"You're the second person to say that today," Sebastian rubbed his forehead and looked up at Francis, "Sorry. Hi, I'm Sebastian Moran, and I promise I'm not a complete asshole. I only had 3 hours of sleep and had to drive all the way to fucking Bristol."

Dexter patted Sebastian on the shoulder and made an "I'm gonna buy drinks" motion while Francis sat in the booth again, "Wow, you've had a big day."

"You don't know the half of it," Sebastian picked up a napkin off the table and began ripping it into pieces as he continued, "Jim _knew_ I'd only had 3 hours of sleep and then he fucking asks me to do a B&E. Then he sends me to Bristol for what I _thought,_ stupidly, was just going to be a quick errand to pick up a suit. I had to stand there for 45 _fucking_ minutes to get a tux fitted."

"Oh, so he's _absolutely_ fucking with you?"

When Dexter returned, he'd found that Sebastian had ripped up an entire napkin. He placed a beer down in front of Sebastian, who immediately picked it up and took a _hearty_ sip. "What did I miss?" Dexter asked as he slipped into the booth to sit next to Sebastian.

"Sebastian got no sleep, and then the boss made him not only do a breaking and entering job, but he also made him drive out to Bristol and back," Francis replied and shook their head, "Man, Sebastian, what did you do?"

"I don't fucking know!" Sebastian was hunched over with his hands on the back of his neck, "If I knew that, I would've fixed it."

Dexter took a sip of his beer and then wiped a bit of foam off his mustache before asking, "Well, what happened?"

Sebastian groaned loudly, reluctant to tell Dexter and Francis about his personal life, before sipping his beer again and _then_ responding, "We had sex last night, and he damn near pulled my gun on me when I got too...intimate."

"What do you mean by 'too intimate'?" Francis questioned with their brow raised.

Sebastian was busy downing the entirety of his beer when Francis questioned him, so he put his index finger up to signal "one moment" before he set his glass down on the table, "I dared to do something other than fuck him raw... I kissed his shoulder. Can I get another beer?"

Dexter set a supportive hand on Sebastian's shoulder and said, "Sorry, mate. You gotta wait..." He started to laugh and then added, "That rhymed! But seriously, you have to wait. What else happened?"

Sebastian held onto his empty glass and rolled it in between his hands, "Well, I slept on the couch. He sweet-talked me into breaking into Harold's house while I sweet-talked him, and then he ... Just fucking stormed off into the bathroom to do nothing, apparently. And then I left because I had shit to do."

Dexter and Francis made a small "huh" noise in unison. Francis was the first to chime in, "Did he storm off last night too?"

"I guess you could say that yeah. He looked..." Sebastian furrowed his brow and remembered the way Jim looked up at him. There was a brief moment when he looked like he sympathized with Sebastian. "He looked like he pitied me for a second. Which doesn’t make sense because then he would’ve had to be something _other_ than a manipulative bastard for a second.”

"Why would he pity you?" Francis continued to question Sebastian.

Sebastian gripped onto the glass he held tighter and made a frustrated noise, "I don't fucking know. Maybe he feels bad that I’m an idiot and got feelings for him."

"Do you think he's fucking with you because he's got feelings for you too?" Francis offhandedly inquired after they finished off their beer.

He was blindsided by the question. Sebastian's kneejerk reaction was to say no, that Francis was wrong, there's no way in hell that Jim Moriarty held any feelings for him. But the longer he thought about it, the more he thought it _could_ be possible. Every time Jim had stormed off, it was after Sebastian had done something unexpectedly affectionate; the affection was the thing making him mad. He could have punished him for it, but Jim didn't, he just left in a huff. _But that doesn't mean he has feelings for you, does it?_

Francis could see the change in Sebastian's face and chuckled before patting his hand, "People do dumb shit when they like somebody. I'm taking a temporary assistant position in legal for this _gorgeous_ woman I have feelings for, and you're bending over backward for Jim."

"So what? He's pulling the "I like you, so I’m gonna bully you" card?"

Sebastian hadn't noticed that Dexter had left until he'd returned with a pitcher for everybody and chimed in, "I think it's that, and he might be pissed off that he _does_ have feelings for you, so he's just taking it out on you."

"Yeah, but that's to say the bastard has any feelings, and I find that shit pretty fucking hard to believe," Sebastian picked up the pitcher and refilled the table's drinks before he continued, "I could see him doing something petty like that, but I'll believe it when I see it."

"Try this, next time you see him," Francis' licked their upper lip and wiped a bit of beer off the table with a napkin, "Do something sweet, affectionate or whatever, and when he tries to run off, don't let him. See what happens."

"What's gonna happen is he'll dock my pay or what the fuck ever," He was about to take a sip of his beer but added, "Fire me or some shit."

Dexter chuckled and shook his head, "So I've seen how much he pays you. If anything, he's paying you _more_ than he promised. I say go for it."

"Funny cause he kept saying he docked my pay for cumming in him."

Francis almost spit out their sip of beer but managed to swallow it before they started laughing. Dexter joined along with her, and Sebastian was about to get mad, but the beer had softened him a little, so he laughed too. It was nice to have buddies around to laugh with him because all he had for company had been his own brain and _Jim_. There was no frame for how absurd everything with Jim was, but how, in the end, it was so much like any other romantic relationship.

The hours wore on, and the topic of Jim came up a couple of times, but Sebastian didn't want to think about him, so he kept steering the conversation to be about Dexter and Francis. Sebastian learned a fair amount about them: Dexter had a husband that _also_ worked for Jim, he liked antique guns, and spoke French. Francis was surprisingly good at juggling, was more scarred up than Sebastian, and learned how to pick a lock when they were 4. He was surprised by how happy he was to have a group of friends to hang out with, people that were like him; his face ached faintly from smiling and laughing the hours away.

The group stumbled out of the bar, badly singing an ABBA song that somebody played on the jukebox. Dexter did the group a favor and called for one of the company drivers to pick them all up and take them to their respective homes. Sebastian ended up dozing off a little, as he was last on the drop off list. He patted the driver on the shoulder and stumbled out onto the sidewalk. Sebastian was still singing the same song all the way up the elevator and to his door.

Sebastian wasn't surprised to find Jim leaned against the wall so that he was the first thing Sebastian saw when he got back. "Well, well, look who it is."

He closed the door behind him and didn't respond to Jim. Sebastian simply walked toward him and set his hands on Jim's jaw, giving Jim a deep kiss, trouble be damned. It was the first moment he'd ever heard Jim surprised, and it made Sebastian grin. For once, Jim wasn't the one in control. Sebastian moved one hand from Jim's jaw and into his hair, enjoying his soft locks between his fingers while he kissed him.

That was the final straw as Jim pushed him off and moved to escape to the bathroom. _Not this time._ Sebastian quickly grabbed onto Jim's wrist and pulled him back in, trapping him against the wall. "No," Sebastian uttered against Jim's neck.

"Moran, I swear to _god_ if you do not let me go, I will push you out of those windows," Jim looked indignant at Sebastian's actions, but he didn't try to move again.

"No," He reiterated and kissed his way down Jim's neck, pulling off his tie and dropping it on the floor. Sebastian was feeling brave.

"Have you just been drinking beer all night?" Jim interrogated, but his voice was less harsh than it was a moment ago, "You reek of it."

Sebastian chuckled as he pushed off Jim's jacket and unbuttoned his shirt, "I was out with Dexter and Francis."

"You have friends?" Sebastian growled and gave Jim a small shove against the wall. Jim chuckled and licked his lips before he grabbed onto Sebastian's tie loosely, "Aww, did I hurt your feelings, Basher?"

Sebastian bit down on Jim's neck and slipped his hand around him, pulling Jim close. He could feel him wiggling around in his arms while letting out a pained moan. It felt good to hold onto him, touch his skin again; he could feel the goosebumps forming on his side. Jim moaned again when Sebastian sucked on the same spot he bit. When he was satisfied with the mark he'd left on Jim's skin, Sebastian asked quietly, "Do you have feelings for me?"

Jim grabbed tightly onto Sebastian's throat and stared daggers at him, but he didn't respond, he just made direct eye contact with him. Sebastian _wished_ he would only be honest, but he figured Jim would see that as a weakness. Jim squeezed Sebastian's throat tighter and snapped, "You're lucky I don't fire you for asking that."

"Oooh, you're going to keep dodging the question? You're so fucking good at that."

Jim squeezed Sebastian's neck tighter, and at that point, Sebastian couldn't breathe or speak. He pulled Sebastian in closer and spat, "Moran, I swear to god, I will stab you and leave you for dead if you don't _drop it_. You know what, I don't even need a knife, I could just strangle you right now."

_Fuck_. Well, Sebastian _did_ have the upper hand. He struggled to breathe as he set his hand on Jim's arm, but Jim kept going. _Fuck_! Just when Sebastian thought he might pass out, Jim let go. Sebastian stumbled backward and coughed loudly, trying to catch his breath.

"You know I _was_ here to give you a present, but I don't know why I should bother after that display," Jim leaned down to speak to Sebastian while he caught his breath, "Maybe if you can stop talking, I'll let you fuck me. You're _clearly_ upset, so you may as well channel that energy into something more useful."

When Sebastian could finally breathe again, he grabbed onto Jim's belt and pulled him into his bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey folks thanks for reading! I'm already pretty long this story is at this point, longer than the last one! If I had to take a guess, I'd say there should be 3 or 4 more chapters after this one!  
> I hope y'all enjoyed it! I appreciate all the folks that leave such nice comments on my writing.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sebastian just wants Jim to be honest

Sebastian didn’t waste any time as he pulled Jim into his bedroom. He unbuckled Jim’s belt but didn’t bother taking it off, as he got distracted by Jim’s mostly unbuttoned shirt. There was so much happening, Sebastian’s brain was buzzing with all the things he wanted to do to Jim. He kissed Jim hard as he fumbled with the last few buttons on his shirt, untucking it from his slacks and tossing it on the floor. Sebastian gripped onto Jim’s jaw as he ran his hands up his stomach and chest, an excited shudder spreading out up from Jim and into Sebastian: Goosebumps.

Jim was making noise, but Sebastian couldn’t tell if it was the disgruntled variety or not. He wasn’t stopping Sebastian, but Jim tended to let Sebastian do what he pleased and make him suffer the consequences later. _Jokes on him, you like getting punished._ He broke the kiss to find Jim’s chest heaving, his face growing more annoyed as Sebastian continued to caress his skin. “Hurry it up already,” Jim insisted.

“Hey, how about _you_ shut the fuck up and let me do what I want,” Sebastian gripped onto Jim’s jaw tighter and loomed over him as he spoke. He was sure his confidence undeserved, but like Jim had said: Sebastian was upset, and he was channeling his energy into something. “If I wanna touch you, then you’re gonna have to fucking deal with it.”

He got that wild look in his eye that Sebastian liked to see; it meant Jim as genuinely excited. Sebastian grinned down at him and chuckled, gripping Jim’s face tighter.

Jim reached his hand down and groped Sebastian’s prominent erection through his slacks. He sneered and then slowly licked along Sebastian’s hand, “Are you going to fuck me hard, tough guy? Or are you going to get all sentimental on me? You think that’s going to make me fall for you or something?”

Reacting out of anger often got Sebastian into trouble; Jim knew that and would gladly exploit it. Sebastian snatched onto Jim’s wrist and pulled it away from his crotch. “Hey, shut the _fuck_ up!” Sebastian growled, throwing Jim’s arm to the side.

Jim was right, but that just pissed Sebastian off. Sebastian was naive enough to think that fucking Jim good enough and holding onto him or looking at him the right way would work, make his boss admit his feelings. He knew better than to believe it would work, but he was often a fool. _Quit while you’re not ahead._

“Is that not what this is?” Jim asked, pulling away from Sebastian’s grasp while he was distracted, “Your sad attempt to get me to love you?”

Sebastian gripped onto Jim’s neck firmly and pushed him back onto the bed, hovering over him with one knee on the bed, “You think that’s what this is?! Love? I daydream about you being dead just as much as fucking you, I _hate_ you!”

Jim had a small grin on his face as he reached to undo Sebastian’s belt, “Then kill me, Moran. Just end my life!” Jim got his belt undone and flicked at the buckle, so it jingled against itself, “Oh, you know what, then you could just fuck my corpse. You wouldn’t have to deal with any of those pesky emotions I give you any more. I think we would all be better off.”

He knew he couldn’t do it, but it didn’t hurt to try. Sebastian squeezed Jim’s neck tighter, reminded that this wasn’t the first time he was at this very same crossroads. The cycle was repeating itself; Jim would bring Sebastian up to the point where he was so angry, he wanted to strangle him to death; Sebastian wondered if that was by design. _Does Jim want you to kill him?_ While Sebastian continued to squeeze his neck, he was vaguely aware that Jim was groping him through his slacks again.

Sebastian finally let go and relished in the gasp for air that Jim made, who croaked out after coughing, “Coward.”

“You’re the fucking coward!” Sebastian shouted before pulling off his tie, “You’ve tried to run off twice now when I tried to touch you _outside_ of rawing you!” 

Jim scoffed and pulled Sebastian down by his jacket, speaking while he undid the white buttons on Sebastian’s shirt, “Didn’t I tell you to stop talking?”

Growling in annoyance, Sebastian realized he’d have to play by Jim’s rules if he wanted to get anything out of him. _A different approach._

“Fine,” Sebastian uttered before he kissed Jim while his hands got rid of Jim’s slacks and underwear. Before pushing all their clothes onto the floor in one sweeping motion, Sebastian tossed the bottle of lube he kept in his pants pocket next to Jim.

It was weird for both of them to be naked on top of a bed. The handful of times the two had sex, the setting was never this mundane; Sebastian had to admit there was something uncomfortable about it, almost too intimate for how he was feeling. Obviously, he had feelings for Jim, but they weren’t cliché “let's have sex with candles” feelings.

Staring down at Jim, Sebastian noticed his body was pretty much hairless; He wondered how much time and money he spent on waxing. It was fine for Sebastian, he remarked as he ran his rough hands up Jim’s body; it just meant there was at least one soft thing about Jim, even if it was only his skin.

Sebastian grabbed onto Jim’s hips and flipped him over onto his hands and knees, ignoring the indignant noise Jim made. He earned the right to be rough with Jim. Sebastian put a sizeable amount of lube into the palm of his hand and smoothed it on his cock before slowly pushing his cock inside of Jim with a groan. He slid his hand up the back of Jim’s thighs before gripping tightly on his hips, pushing his dick further inside of Jim as they both made similarly horny moans.

_He’s too far away_. Sebastian wanted skin to skin contact with Jim while he fucked him, he needed it. He snaked one arm around Jim’s waist and gripped his hair tight with the other. Jim let out a long moan as he was pulled back onto Sebastian’s cock. Much to Sebastian’s surprise, Jim didn’t try to wriggle away from the close and intimate hold that Sebastian put on him; Sebastian’s hands on his chest and his thigh, no claws. Sebastian had his cock deep inside him, and he slowly bucked his hips up and down to fuck Jim, really taking his time.

It didn’t take long for Sebastian’s hand to wander to Jim’s cock. He slowly dragged his thumb over the tip of his cock, getting a small amount of precum on his fingers. Sebastian couldn’t help it as he chuckled and mumbled in Jim’s ear, “You’re a messy slut, huh?”

Sebastian was surprised at the frustrated moan that Jim made, less surprised to find Jim grabbing onto his arm and digging his fingernails into his skin. _Oh, he loved that._ Sebastian licked the precum off his thumb and grinned while he slowly jerked off Jim, hoping Jim would cum first.

Sebastian could feel Jim’s heartbeat through his chest as it got faster and faster, Jim’s screams of pleasure getting louder and louder. As Jim came, he gripped onto Sebastian’s arms, and his thighs shook. Sebastian got his wish. He gripped onto Jim’s jaw and mumbled in his ear, “I’m not done with you yet.”

Jim parted his lips as Sebastian slipped his fingers into his mouth, and Sebastian held him tighter as he moaned. He was tired of taking his time, Sebastian needed to cum. He sped his hips up and fucked Jim harder and deeper, moaning loudly as he realized Jim was very deliberately sucking on his fingers.

“Oh fuck, Jim…” Sebastian quivered out, his head buried in Jim’s neck.

Jim started to move his hips in tandem with Sebastian, his moans getting louder again. He gripped onto Sebastian’s wrist and pulled his fingers from his mouth, speaking with more desire than Sebastian had ever heard from Jim, “Cum in me, Sebastian…Now.” Jim slipped three of Sebastian’s fingers into his mouth and sucked them just like they were a cock.

Sebastian didn’t have a chance to marvel at how easy it was for Jim to push the right buttons, as he quickly came inside of Jim. He held Jim tightly and moaned along with him as Jim orgasmed again. Sebastian at the very least pulled his cock out of Jim, but he still hung onto him while he caught his breath, trailing his saliva drenched fingertips down Jim’s neck and to his sternum, across his heart again. He was surprised to find Jim making satisfied noises while Sebastian kissed down his neck and across his shoulder, an action that got him into trouble not that long ago.

“I don’t ask for a lot,” Sebastian mumbled, “I just want honesty…”

Jim didn’t say anything for a long moment before grabbing onto Sebastian’s arm again, digging his nails into his skin, “This is your fault. _This_ wasn’t part of the plan.”

“What wasn’t?”

Sebastian let Jim turn to face him. He set his hand on Sebastian’s chest, tracing his collarbone, down his chest and across his abs. “You weren’t supposed to be charming and… interesting.”

“So, what does that mean?”

Jim looked more uncomfortable than Sebastian had ever seen him while he thought his response over, “It means that I enjoy having you around.”

_Safe response._ Sebastian grinned at Jim and ran his fingers through his hair, “I’ll take it.”

“Good because that’s all that you’re getting,” Jim ran his hands along Sebastian’s chest again, “Lucky for me that you’re good in bed.”

“So are you,” He remarked, and then remembered, “Hey, I thought I wasn’t supposed to cum in you? I thought you hated it”

I never said I didn’t like it,” Jim leaned in and kissed Sebastian with surprising gentleness before climbing off the bed, “I’m using your shower. _Don’t_ fall asleep.”

He was about to reply, but Sebastian’s phone started ringing. Jim looked just as surprised as Sebastian did, and he watched Sebastian get up and grab it from his pants pocket. The screen showed “Surveillance” and he quickly answered it, “This is Moran.”

"Hey Sebastian, it’s Francis Barnes. We got those cameras set up at Harold’s house, and it looks like he’s on the move.”  
"Oh good,” Sebastian glanced over at Jim, “Does he have a duffle bag with him?”

Sebastian waited for Francis’s response, and it wasn’t what he wanted, “Yeah, looks like it. What’s he got in there?”

"Explosives, unfortunately. Thanks, Francis. Can you send a car my way?”

"Yeah, of course, somebody should be there in 5 minutes. I’ll keep an eye on Harold and tell your driver where he’s going.”

Sebastian rubbed his face and groaned before thanking Francis and hanging up. He looked up at Jim again to see Jim leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed, “I knew it would be explosives. Well, if you take care of him fast enough, I might still be here when you get back.”

Before getting dressed, Sebastian checked the time and was frustrated to find that it was pushing 1am. He was beyond exhausted, and this point, Sebastian knew he wasn’t going to be as capable right now. He was still only working on 3 hours of sleep, and he was still tipsy, a lousy mix. After putting his slacks and shirt back on, Sebastian started to stretch himself out to try to wake himself up, realizing that Jim was still standing there only when he laughed.

"Look,” Sebastian started, rolling up the sleeves on his shirt, “You’re making me work on no sleep. I’m doing what I can, sir.”

"I admire your determination,” Jim approached Sebastian and set a hand on his cheek, kissing him in a shockingly ordinary way. Sebastian almost didn’t hear Jim’s mumbled reply, “Make me proud, tiger.”

Sebastian watched Jim walk away and into his bathroom, disappearing behind the closed door. He was all too aware of his chest, how hard his heart was beating; Sebastian wanted it to be from exhaustion, but he knew it was the feeling he had was too close to love for his comfort. Sebastian quickly rubbed his face and took a deep breath, psyching himself up with a quick “okay” out loud, before collecting anything he thought he might need. Harold was going someplace unknown at this moment, so Sebastian had no idea how to prepare. _Fuck it, just bring everything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW that took forever. The world is a weird place and I've been kinda depressed but DAMNIT I wanted to get this chapter done and out.  
> I hope that you enjoyed it and let me know what you thought about it. There's probably going to be one chapter after this, but I've got plans for another story after this.


End file.
